801 

&44 


M 


,  w«f»;K^::ii^p-fK^ 


Admission  of  New  Mexico  as  a  State — Her  Resotirces 
and  Future. 


SPEECH 


HON.  STEPHEN  B.  ELKINS, 


DELEGATE  FROM  NEW  MEXICO, 


HOUSE  OF   REPEESENTATIVES, 


MAY    31,   1874. 


There  should  be  no  obligation  of  a  nation  more  sacred  or  more  faithfully  complied  with  than  that 
which  is  contained  in  its  treaties  with  other  governments.  Our  treaty  with  Mexico  imposes  upon 
us  an  obligation  which  we  cannot  disregard  at  this  time,  unless  we  mean  to  be  faithless  to  our 
treaty  stipulations. — Senator  Hamlin'a  speech  on  the  admission  of  California. 

The  lowest  death-rate  from  tubercular  disease  in  America  is  in  New  Mexico.  The  censuses  of  1860 
and  1870  give  25  per  cent,  in  New  England,  14  in  Minnesota,  from  5  to  6  in  the  different  Southern 
States,  and  3  per  cent,  in  New  Mexico. 

*  *  -K  *  1  *'*  «• 

The  whole  Territory  has  been  always  astonishingly  free  from  epidemic  disease.— 2)r.  Kennon, 
Santa  Fe,  New  Mexico. 

The  climate  ot  New  Mexico  is  mild  and  healthy,  the  sky  as  clear  as  that  of  Italy,  and  the  air 
transparent  and  pure.  In  fact,  the  very  act  of  breathing  in  this  country  makes  existence  in  it  a 
pleasure.— a^rt.  S.  W.  Raymond,  U.  S.  Mining  Commissioner,  Report  for  1871. 

Coal  apparently  is  as  good  as  the  Westmoreland  coal  of  Pennsylrania.— e'en.  W.  J.  Palmer, 
Railroad  Surveys  in  New  Mexico. 

As  far  as  its  practical  application  for  all  practical  purposes  is  concerned,  it  is  undoubtedly  fully 
equal  to  Pennsylvania  anthracite,  and  really  the  best  fuel  so  far  discovered  in  the  West.- ifon.  B. 
W.  Raymond. 

They  are  by  far  the  be?t  that  have  been  discovered  in  the  Rocky  Mountains.  They  are  equal  to 
the  best  bituminous  coals  of  Illinois,  Ohio,  or  Pennsylvania. 

******** 

Ten  years  ago  the  mineral  wealth  of  New  Mexico  was  hardly  supposed  to  exist.  It  is  now  known 
to  be  immense,  far  surpassing  the  wealth  of  "Ormus  or  oi  laA."— Professor  C.  D.  Wilbur. 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT     PRINTING      OFFICE. 

1874. 


FRED  LOCKLEY 

RARE  WESTERN  BOOKS 

4227  S.  E.  Stark  St. 
PORTLAND.  ORE. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/admissionofnewmeOOelkirich 


Bflncrott  Library 


^ 


SPEECH 


HON.   S.   B.   ELKINS 


The  House,  according  to  order,  proceeded  to  consider  the  bill  (H.  K.  No.  2418) 
rv         to  enable  the  people  of  Xew  Mexico  to  form  a  constitution  and  State  government, 
and  for  the  admission  of  the  said  State  into  the  Union  on  an  equal  footing  with 
the  original  States — 


Mr.  ELKINS  said : 

Mr.  Speaker  :  I  desire  to  urge  the  passage  of  the  bill  now  pending 
before  the  House,  providing  for  the  admission  of  New  Mexico  as  a 
State  into  the  Union,  on  the  following  grounds  and  for  the  following 
reasons,  in  the  presentation  of  which  I  beg  the  patience  and  indulg- 
ence of  this  House : 
First.  Because  she  is  entitled  to  such  admission  as  a  matter  of 
^^  right,  having  the  requisite  population  prescribed  by  law  and  the 
->>.      capacity  to  support  a  State  government. 

^         Second.  She  is  entitled  to  admission  into  the  Union  by  reason  of 

^^      the  promises  and  assurances  made  by  our  Government  to  her  people 

previous  to  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  by 

'"^     which  she  was  ceded  to  the  United  States,  as  also  by  the  terms  and 

^^^     stipulations  of  the  treaty  itself. 


POPULATION. 


In  1850  the  population  of  New  Mexico  was  61,547,  and  in  1860, 
.>3, 93,516 ;  showing  an  increase  in  ten  years  of  about  32,000,  or  about  50 
"^  per  cent.  In  1870,  according  to  the  census — which  was  necessarily 
imperfect  owing  to  remote  settlements  and  Indian  hostilities — the 
population  was  91,871,  showing  an  apparent  decrease  from  1860  to  1870. 
This  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  during  that  time  the  Territory  of  Ari- 
zona was  organized  out  of  New  Mexico,  taking  9,000  of  her  people, 
and  there  was  annexed  to  Colorado  the  northern  tier  of  counties,  con- 
taining a  population  of  about  15,000 — making  in  all  taken  from  New 
Mexico  during  this  period  23,000  people.  If  a  correct  census  could 
have  been  taken  in  1870,  it  is  believed  it  would  have  shown  a  popula- 
tion of  about  110,000  inhabitants,  not  including  the  Pueblo  Indians,  re- 
cently decided  by  the  supreme  court  of  New  Mexico  to  be  citizens  of 


CM 


the  United  States.  Taking,  however,  tlie  census  of  1870,  and  consid- 
ering the  23,000  given  to  Ai-izona  and  Colorado  Territories,  it  will  show 
the  increase  in  the  population  of  New  Mexico  from  1860  to  1870  ta 
have  been  about  35  per  cent.,  notwithstanding  during  most  all  this 
period  the  Territory  was  cursed  by  sanguinary  Indian  wars,  her  peo- 
ple killed,  and  her  property  stolen ;  her  mining,  stock-raising,  and 
other  industrial  enterprises  paralyzed,  and  the  nearest  railway  a  thou- 
sand miles  from  her  borders. 

The  average  increase  of  twenty  or  more  of  the  older  States  during 
that  time  was  only  about  20  per  cent.,  and  the  actual  increase  proper 
of  New  Mexico  has  been  about  10  per  cent,  greater  in  the  last  ten 
years  than  that  of  Alabama,  Connecticut,  Georgia,  Arkansas,  Dela- 
ware, Indiana,  Kentucky,  Louisiana,  Maine,  Massachusetts,  Missis- 
sippi, New  Hampshire,  New  York,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina* 
Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Ehode  Island,  and  Tennessee. 

The  present  population  is  estimated  to  be  about  135,000.  The  south- 
ern, northern,  and  eastern  portions  of  the  Territory  are  rapidly  set- 
tling, and  have  been  since  1870,  with  a  very  substantial  class  of 
inhabitants,  devoted  as  they  are  for  the  most  part  to  stock-raising  and 
farming.  This  increased  impetus  given  to  immigration  to  the  por- 
tions of  the  Territory  just  named  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  for  the  last 
three  years  New  Mexico  has  been  free  from  Indian  hostilities,  for 
which  reason  also,  since  1870,  in  those  portions  large  mining  districts 
have  been  opened  and  occupied. 

In  the  memorial  to  Congress  unanimously  adopted  at  the  last  ses- 
sion of  the  territorial  Legislature,  asking  and  praying  for  the  passage 
of  an  enabling  act,  the  following  language  is  used : 

Your  memorialists,  the  council  and  house  of  representatives  of  the  Legislative 
Assembly  of  the  Territory  of  New  Mexico,  would  most  respectfully  represent,  that 
the  Territory  of  New  Mexico  at  this  time,  we  believe,  has  a  population  of  135,000, 
aside  from  the  Pueblos  or  Village  Indians,  who  from  time  immemorial  have  been 
agriculturists  and  among  the  best  citizens  of  our  Territory,  and  who  now  number 
little  short  of  10,000,  making  a  total  population  of  over  140,000  people,  mostly  a  quiet, 
pastoral  people,  and  as  truly  loj^al  to  the  Government  under  which  they  live  as  any 
people  under  the  sun  ;  that  at  the  time  of  taking  the  last  census  there  were  in  this  Ter- 
ritory at  least  10,000  people,  living  in  the  many  various  mining  districts,  remote  from 
the  mass  of  the  settlements,  and  residing  on  the  extreme  borders  of  this  Territory,  who 
could  not  be  reached  by  the  census  officers  without  great  danger  and  risk,  and  were  for 
that  reason  not  included  in  the  census ;  and  that  since  said  census  was  taken  a  very 
large  immigration  has  come  into  this  Territory  from  the  States  and  European  coun- 
tries, amounting  to  at  least  20,000,  who  have  settled  permanently  in  our  Territoiy, 
bringing  with  them  capital  and  means ;  that  this  new  population  is  dispersed  very 
generally  throughout  the  Territory,  but  will  be  found  mostly  in  the  mining  regions, 
■which  are  fast  becoming  developed.  "We  believe  that  outside  of  the  native  Mexi- 
can population  of  this  Territory,  there  are  at  least  40,000  people  of  American  and 
European  descent  among  us,  who  are  permanent  residents. 

Fifteen  States  have  been  admitted  into  the  Union  with  a  less  pop- 


Illation  than  New  Mexico  had  even  in  1S70,  as  shoAvn  by  the  follow- 
ing table : 


Date 
df  admis- 
sion. 

Popula- 
tion. 

1791 

85.  339 

1792 

73,  077 

1796 

77,  202 

1802 

41,  915 

1812 

76,  556 

1816 

63,  805 

1817 

75,  512 

1818 

34,620 

1821 

66,  586 

1836 

52,  240 

1845 

54,  447 

1846 

81,  920 

1849 

52,  465 

1864 

40,  000 

1866 

60,  000 

Vermont 

Kentucky 

Tennessee 

Ohio 

Xouisiana,  largely  foreign 

Indiana 

Mississippi 

Illinois 

Missouri 

Arkansas 

Florida 

Iowa 

Oregon  

ITevada. 

Nebraska 


And  it  is  asked,  "  If  fifteen  of  the  twenty-four  States  admitted  since 
the  original  thirteen  have  been  so  admitted  on  an  average  popula- 
tion of  less  than  sixty-three  thousand,  shall  not  New  Mexico,  with  an 
admitted  population  of  sixty  or  seventy  thousand  in  excess  of  this 
average,  be  allowed  this  long-denied  right  ?"  And,  in  addition  to 
this,  two  States  are  now  in  the  Union  with  a  less  population  than 
New  Mexico,  and  two  with  about  the  same.  The  ratio  of  representa- 
tion entitling  a  State  to  admission  into  the  Union  has  been  as  follows : 
At  first  it  was  30,000 ;  in  1793  it  was  33,000 ;  in  1813  it  was  35,000 ; 
in  1823  it  was  40,000 ;  in  1833  it  was  47,700 ;  in  1843  it  wa«  ,680  ; 
in  1856  it  was  93,420.  No  less  than  four  States  have  been  itted 
without  the  required  ratio,  as  follows : 


Popula- 
tion. 


Florida  .. 
Oregon. .. 
Nevada . . 
Nebraska 


54,  447 
52,  465 
40,  000 
60,  000 


New  Mexico  having  more  population  than  either  of  these  States  at 
the  date  of  their  admission. 

The  ability  of  New  Mexico  to  support  a  State  government  is  not 
doubted  by  those  acquainted  with  her  condition  and  resources.  She 
will  start  on  her  new  career  as  a  State  with  virtually  no  debt,  the 
sum  being  now  only  about  $75,000  with  a  sure  prospect  of  being  liqui- 
dated in  a  year  or  two  at  furthest.  Not  a  county  in  the  Territory  has 
created  a  debt  of  any  kind  for  any  purpose.    The  warrants  in  most 


6  . 

of  tlie  counties  are  worth  oue  hundred  cents  on  the  dollar.  The  peo- 
ple favor  the  cash  system.  They  are  wisely  conservative  in  all  mone- 
tary affairs,  and  are  averse  to  creating  either  a  territorial  or  county 
debt,  and  their  conservatism  has  been  greatly  strengthened  by  the 
fact  that  they  see  in  other  portions  of  the  country  the  inhabitants  ai*e 
groaning  beneath  town,  city,  county,  and  State  debts,  often  recklessly 
incurred.  New  Mexico  being  an  old  country,  her  improvements  and 
wealth  are  substantial,  the  result  of  two  centuries.  Her  people  have 
been  censured  for  want  of  enterprise  and  public  spirit,  but  now  that 
they  owe  comparatively  nothing,  and  there  is  no  necessity  for  any 
increased  taxation,  the  Territory  becomes  peculiarly  inviting  to  those 
seeking  homes.  While  New  Mexico  is  but  little  known  tlu'oughout 
the  country  generally,  her  merchants  have  been  long  and  most  favora- 
bly known  to  the  commercial  world  in  the  cities  of  New  York,  Phila- 
delphia, Chicago,  Baltimore,  and  Saint  Louis. 

The  resources  of  New  Mexico  are  not  surpassed  by  those  of  any  State 
or  Territory  in  the  Union.  She  always  has  produced  and  always  will 
produce  enough  to  support  her  population.  For  the  last  ten  years  she 
has  done  this,  and  with  the  surplus  supplied  the  Army  and  the  Indians 
now  on  reservations  in  the  Territory.  Her  beautiful  and  fertile  val- 
leys yield  an  abundant  return  to  the  farmer  for  his  labor,  and  as  a 
wheat-producing  country  she  is  certainly  surpassed  by  none  and 
equaled  by  but  few  of  the  States  and  Territories. 

Her  boundless  plains  and  plateaus,  covered  with  the  most  nutri- 
tious grasses  known,  make  her  take  rank  pre-eminently  as  a  stock- 
growing  region.  This  branch  of  industry  is  now  encouraged  by 
accessions  to  her  stock-growers  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  The 
receipts  for  wool  and  hides  sliipj>ed  to  Saint  Louis,  Philadelphia,  and 
New  York  amount  annually  to  about  $2,000,000,  and  the  cattle  sent 
to  the  eastern  markets,  together  with  beef  supplied  to  the  Indians 
and  the  Army,  amount  to  near  $2,000,000. 

The  Territory  abounds  in  minerals  of  all  kinds,  principally  coal, 
iron,  lead,  copper,  silver,  and  gold,  and  in  inexhaustible  quantities, 
but  little  developed  and  worked  for  Avant  of  machinery  and  railway 
connections.  It  is  estimated  that  her  mines  yield  annually,  of  gold 
silver,  and  copper,  about  $2,000,000.  The  observations  of  all  scientists 
and  travelers  who  have  visited  the  Territory  confirm  in  the  amplest 
manner  her  claims  to  immense  coal-fields  and  iron  deposits,  rivaled 
only  by  those  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  and  being  almost  equal  to 
hers  in  extent  and  quality. 

It  is  estimated  by  one  of  the  best  authorities  in  the  whole  country 
that  in  the  completion  of  either  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  F6 
or  the  Kansas  Pacific  Railway  to  Cimarron,  New  Mexico,  there  wiU 
grow  up  in  a  short  time  a  coal  trade  of  three  thousand  tons  per  day 
to  supply  the  six  hundred  miles  of  country  reaching  from  the  base 


of  the  Rocky  Mountains  down  the  valley  of  the  Arkansas  River  far 
into  the  neighboring  State  of  Kansas.  This  coal  must  be  supplied 
from  New  Mexico ;  it  can  come  from  no  other  quarter ;  and  this  will 
be  only  the  beginning  of  the  coal  trade,  not  to  speak  of  the  copper, 
lead,  iron,  and  precious  ores  that  will  be  shipped  for  reduction. 

New  Mexico  must  become  a  manufacturing  country.  She  has  all 
the  elements  necessary  to  this  end.  Unskilled  labor  and  the  neces- 
saries of  life  are  cheaper  in  New  Mexico  than  in  the  Atlantic  States 
and  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  when  it  is  considered  that  New 
Mexico  has  in  the  greatest  abundance  coal,  iron,  lead,  copper,  and 
silver,  also  wool  and  hides,  the  time  is  certainly  not  far  distant  when 
she  will  have  maniifactures  of  all  kinds,  and  instead  of  paying  high 
freight  for  cloths,  carpets,  shoes,  machinery,  farming  utensils,  and 
railroad  iron,  she  will  not  only  from  her  own  manufactures  supply  the 
wants  of  her  people,  but  compete  with  the  manufactories  of  the  East 
in  supplying  less  favored  sections. 

Five  lines  of  railway  are  under  construction,  and  pointing  to  New 
Mexico :  The  Texas  and  Pacific,  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  Atchison,  To- 
peka  and  Santa  F6,  Kansas  Pacific,  and  Denver  and  Rio  Grande ; 
three  are  within  ninety  miles  of  her  borders,  with  a  fair  prospect  of 
being  rapidly  extended,  and  three  will  terminate  within  the  heart  of 
New  Mexico,  and  two  it  is  supposed  will  become  transcontinental. 


EDUCATION. 


Although  education  has  been  much  neglected  in  New  Mexico,  I 
have  pleasure  in  stating  that  the  people  have  become  aroused  to 
its  transcendent  importance,  and  in  1871  the  Legislature  passed  an 
act  establishing  a  common-school  system  throughout  the  Territory, 
and  provided  for  the  support  thereof  that  there  should  be  set  apart 
not  only  the  poll-tax  and  one-fourth  of  all  other  taxes,  but  a  certain 
surplus  in  the  various  county  treasuries.  This  act  has  been  in  opera- 
tion about  three  years,  and  according  to  the  report  of  the  secretary  of 
the  Territory  there  are  now  established  and  in  full  operation  one  hun- 
dred and. thirty-three  public  schools.  From  this  it  will  be  seen  that 
New  Mexico  appropriates  a  larger  share  of  her  taxes  for  the  support 
of  her  public  schools  than  any  other  State  or  Territory  in  the  Union, 
and  as  yet  she  has  had  no  help  from  any  source  whatever  for  school 
purposes.  In  addition  to  the  public  schools  there  are  a  number  of 
colleges  and  high  schools  in  the  Territory. 

It  is  often  asked  why  Territories  seek  so  zealously  to  become  States 
To  those  who  have  lived  in  Territories  no  answer  to  this  interroga- 
tory is  needed,  but  to  those  who  have  not  enjoyed  this  experience  I 
desire  to  say,  that  the  interests  of  a  Territory  to  the  General  Gov- 
ernment are  necessarily  secondary.  The  Territories  have  no  vote  and 
no  power,  and  are  therefore  not  heard.    The  long  arm  of  the  Govern- 


8 

ment  cannot  reach  to  distant  and  remote  sections  and  jealously 
guard  the  rights  of  the  people,  anticipate  their  wants,  and  build  up 
their  interests.  In  trying  to  do  so  the  Government  is  attempting  too 
much,  and  what  was  never  contemplated.  The  Territories  want  local 
self-government,  because  they  can  better  build  up  their  own  interests 
and  insure  their  own  jirosperity  as  States.  The  history  of  the  whole 
country  attests  that  States  flourish  and  increase  more  rapidly  than 
Territories.    The  following  table  will  show  these  facts : 

Tennessee  admitted  in  1796;  population  in  1790,  35,791 ;  in  1800,  105,602. 

Ohio  admitted  in  1802 ;  population  in  1800,  45,365 ;  in  1810,  230,760.  • 

Louisiana  admitted  in  1812;  population  in  1810,  76,556 ;  in  1820,  153,407. 

Indiana  admitted  in  1816 ;  population  in  1810,  24,520 ;  in  1820,  147,178. 

Mississippi  admitted  in  1817;  population  in  1810,  40,352;  in  1820,  75,448. 

Illinois  admitted  in  1818 ;  population  in  1810,  12,282 ;  in  1820,  55,200. 

Missouri  admitted  in  1821 ;  population  in  1820,  66,586 ;  in  1830,  140,455. 

Arkansas  admitted  in  1836 ;  population  in  1830,  43,388 ;  in  1840,  97,574. 

Michigan  admitted  in  1837 ;  population  in  1830,  31,639;  in  1840,  212,267. 

Florida  admitted  in  1845 ;  population  in  1840,  54,477  ;  in  1850,  87,445. 

Wisconsin  admitted  in  1848;  population  in  1840,  30,495  ;  in  1850,  305,391. 

Iowa  admitted  in  1848;  population  in  1840,  43,112;  in  1850,  192,214. 

California  admitted  in  1850 ;  population  in  1850,  95,597. 

Minnesota  admitted  in  1858;  population  in  1850,  6,077;  in  1860,  173,855. 

Oregon  admitted  in  1859;  population  in  1850,  13,294;  in  1860,  52,465. 

Nevada  admitted  in  1864;  population  in  1860,  6,857;  in  1870,  42,491^ 

Nebraska  admitted  in  1867 ;  population  in  1860,  28,841 ;  in  1870,  122,993. 

The  idea  of  a  Territory  to  the  people  of  the  East  suggests  want  of 
law,  want  of  protection  to  property  and  life,  want  of  society;  indeed, 
the  word  is  a  synonym  for  disorder  and  lawlessness,  for  which  reason 
emigration  and  capital  find  their  way  so  slowly  into  the  Territories ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  a  State  carries  with  it  the  idea  of  law,  order, 
strength,  and  dignity,  and  has  invariably  attracted  immigration  and 
promoted  prosperity. 

But,  in  addition  to  all  this,  the  keeping  and  holding  large  bodies  of 
people  in  remote  localities  in  territorial  bondage  and  subjection; 
governing  them  by  laws  they  have  no  part  in  enacting ;  taxing  them 
without  representation ;  denying  them  the  right  to  elect  their  own 
officers ;  appointing  to  the  highest  places  among  them  entire  strangers 
who  have  no  interest  in  the  country,  who  sometimes  prove  to  be  mere 
political  adventurers,  is  not  only  unjust  and  unrepublican,  but  hostile 
to  our  ideas  of  true  government. 

It  is  often  said  you  have  a  Legislature  and  a  Delegate  in  Congress. 
This  is  worse  than  no  answer.  The  first  is  a  farce,  a  political  hybrid, 
without  sovereignty ;  the  second  only  a  beggar  at  the  doors  of  the 
Executive  and  Congress,  without  power.  Then,  to  escape  from  this 
vassalage,  subserviency,  and  injustice,  where  there  is  no  growth,  no 
encouragmeut,  but  where  everything  is  dwarfed  and  limited,  we 
ask  to  be  admitted  as  a  State. 


Mr.  Cass,  iu  liis  great  speech  on  territorial  governments  in  the 
Senate  in  1850,  said: 

A  great  principle  is  involved  in  tliis  controversy — the  inseparable  connection 
between  legislation  and  representation.  And  what  paramount  necessity  calls  for 
its  violation  ?  Are  not  the  people  of  the  Territories  competent  to  manage  their  own 
internal  affairs  ?  Are  they  not  of  us  and  with  us ;  bone  of  our  bone,  flesh  of  our 
flesh  1  The  same  people,  ^N-ith  the  same  views,  habits,  and  intelligence ;  all,  indeed, 
which  constitute  national  identity?  Ay,  sir,  and  exhibiting  by  the  very  act  of 
emigration  a  spirit  of  enterprise  which  commends. them  the  more  to  our  respect. 
Cannot  such  a  people  administer  their  own  government  safely  and  wisely?  Expe- 
rience says  they  can.  They  have  in  every  instance  proved  their  capacity  for  seLf- 
govemment. — Appendix  Congressional  Globe,  volume  22,  page  59. 

New  Mexico  has  been  in  her  pupilage  about  twenty-six  years.  She 
has  had  her  Delegates  during  that  period  on  this  floor,  who  like  other 
Delegates,  in  season  and  out  of  season,  have  implored  and  importuned 
the  General  Government  for  attention  to  the  wants  of  the  people,  show- 
ing that  their  necessities  were  great ;  but  for  the  most  part  Congress, 
I  learn,  has  been  deaf  to  their  entreaties. 

The  Constitution  has  vested  this  power  of  admission  in  the  discre- 
tion of  Congress : 

New  States  may  be  admitted  bj*  the  Congress  into  this  Union. 

Mr.  Sumner  said  in  his  speech  on  Kansas : 

New  States  may  be  admitted;  out  of  that  little  word  inay  comes  the  power, 
broadly  and  fully,  without  any  limitation  founded  on  population. 

As  to  the  proper  exercise  of  this  discretion  Congress  should  exercise 
it  wisely,  fairly,  and  impartially.  She  has  the  power  to  refuse  any 
Territory  admission,  but  not  the  right  when  such  Territory  comes 
properly  prepared.  On  this  point  Mr.  Holmes,  a  member  from  Massa- 
chusetts, speaking  on  the  admission  of  Missouri,  said : 

"What  would  be  a  fair  construction  of  this  ?  Surely  not  that  Congress  might  hold 
a  Territory  in  a  colonial  condition  as  long  as  they  choose,  nor  that  they  might  admit 
a  new  State  with  less  political  rights  than  another,  hut  that  the  admission  should  be 
as  soon  as  thepeople  needed,  and  were  capable  of  supporting  a  State  government. — Ap 
pendix  Congressional  Globe,  volume  22,  page  251. 

Mr.  Barbour,  then  a  Senator  from  Virginia,  in  speaking  on  the  same 
subject,  said: 

And  even  this  power  is  subj  ect  to  control.  Whenever  a  Territory  is  sufficiently  large 
and  its  population  sufficiently  numerous  your  discretion  ceases,  and  the  obligation 
becomes  imperious  that  you  forthwith  admit ,-  for  I  hold  that,  according  to  the  spirit 
of  the  Constitution,  the  people  thus  circumstanced  are  entitled  to  the  privileges  of  self- 
government. — Ibidem-. 

Mr.  Hardin,  from  Kentucky,  in  speaking  on  the  same  subject  and 
the  exercise  of  this  discretion,  uses  the  following  language : . 

The  manner  in  which  that  discretion  has  been  exercised  has  been  so  uniform  and 
invariable  that  it  amounts  to  a  law.  It  is,  Mr.  Chairman,  a  proclamation  to  the  in- 
habitants of  all  the  Tenitories,  that  whenever  tlieir  numbers  approach  to  fifty  or 


10 

lixty  thousand  they  shall  be  at  liberty  to  burst  from  around  them  the  bonds  and 
ihains  of  territorial  servitude  and  vassalage,  and  assume  and  exercise  the  rights  of 
self-government — the  inalienable  rights  of  mankind. 

And  again,  in  language  stronger  than  I  can  command,  a  liigh 
authority  has  declared : 

The  TeiTitoiies  of  the  United  States  are  rightfully  held  in  pupilagie  as  long  as 
their  infancy  unfits  them  for  self-government  or  admission  into  the  Union,  but  un- 
justly detained  in  bondage  whenever  their  maturity  arrives.  At  that  period  they 
have  a  right  to  demand  admittance  into  the  political  family  as  equals,  or  the  enjoy- 
ment of  Liberty  as  independent  States.  Power  may  enslave  them  longer,  but  the 
laws  of  nature  and  of  justice,  the  genius  of  our  political  institutions  and  our  own 
example,  proclaim  their  title  to  break  their  bonds  and  assert  their  freedom. — Appen- 
dix to  Congressional  Globe,  volume  22,  page  251. 

By  applying  for  admission,  New  Mexico  testifies  her  willingness  to 
relieve  you  of  the  expense  of  continuing  in  existence  a  territorial 
government,  and  enables  you  to  reduce  your  annual  appropriations  at 
a  time  when  economy  and  retrenchment  is  the  popular  demand.  She 
has  shown  herself  amply  able  to  support  a  State  government  and  keep 
her  credit ;  and  above  and  beyond  all,  she  has  shown  her  devotion  to 
our  institutions  and  her  fitness  to  become  a  member  of  the  Union  by 
giving  U13  the  lives  of  some  of  her  noblest  sons  to  maintain  the  one 
and  preserve  the  other. 

Unlike  many  of  our  own  people,  more  fortunate,  w  ho  had  been  bom 
and  educated  under  our  flag,  the  Mexican  population^ did  not  hesitate, 
did  not  doubt,  but  saw  their  duty  clear ;  and  when  the  proclamation  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States  came,  calling  for  troops,  for  help  ; 
when  the  cause  of  the  Union  looked  dark  and  doubtful,  and  when 
General  Sibley's  trained  soldiers  from  the  confederate'armies  were 
already  on  the  soil,  these  people  as  one  man  rallied  under  their  adopted 
flag,  and  fought  gallantly  to  preserve  the  Union  into  which  they  now 
seek  admission.  How  well  they  did  their  duty  let  the  graves  at  Fort 
Craig  and  Peralta,  on  the  banks  of  their  own  loved  Rio  Grande  and 
at  Apache  Canon,  testify.  They  loved  the  Union  well  enough  to  fight 
for  it,  and  the  Union  ought  to  love  them  enough  to  adopt  them  as  her 
sons  in  truth  and  in  fact. 

But  apart  from  all  these  considerations,  which  it  would  seem  were 
of  themselves  overwhelmingly  sufficient  to  induce  Congress  to  at  once 
provide  for  the  admission  of  New  Mexico  into  the  Union,  I  claim  her 
right  to  admission  on  still  higher  grounds  and  for  stronger  reasons, 
which  cannot,  certainly  ought  not,  to  be  disregarded  by  Congress.  I 
claim  it  by  virtue  of  the  stipulations  of  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe 
Hidalgo  and  the  promises  and  assurances  of  our  Government  previous 
to  the  ratification  of  the  same. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  during  the  Mexican  war  General  Kearny 
was  the  officer  in  charge  of  the  troops  that  marched  against  New 


11 

Mexico.    -On  the  Slst  of  July,  1846,  lie  issued  the  following  proclama- 
tion: 

Proclamation  to  the  citizens  of  XeW  Mexico  by  Colonel  Kearny,  commanding  the 
United  States  forces. 

The  undersigned  enters  New  Mexico  with  a  large  military  force  for|the  purpose 
of  seeking  union  with  and  ameliorating  the  condition  of  its  inhabitants.  This  be 
does  under  instructions  from  his  Government,  and  with  the  assurance  that  he  will 
be  amply  sustained  in  the  accomplishment  of  this  object.  It  is  enjoined  on  the  citi- 
zens of  New  Mexico  to  remain  quietly  at  their  homes  and  to  pursue  their  peaceful 
avocations.  So  long  as  they  continue  in  such  pursuits  they  will  not  be  interfered 
with  by  the  Ameiican  army,  but  wiU  be  respected  and  protected  in  their  rights, 
both  civil  and  religious. 

All  who  take  up  arms  or  encourage  resistance  against  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  wiU  be  regarded  as  enemies,  and  will  be  treated  accordingly. 

S.  W.  KEARNY, 
Colonel  First  Dragomis. 

Camp  at  Bext's  Fokt  on  the  Arkansas,  July  31,  1846. 

After  advancing  about  two  hundred  miles  farther  into  .the  Terri- 
tory, in  an  address  to  the  people  on  the  15th  August,  1846,  at  Las  Ve- 
gas, he  said : 

Mr.  Alcalde  and  people  of  New  Mexico,  I  have  come  among  you  by  the^orders 
of  my  Government  to  take  possession  of  your  country  and  extend  over  it  the  laws 
'of  the  United  States.  We  consider  it,  and  have  done  so  for  some  time,  a  part  of  the 
territory  of  the  United  States.  We  come  among  you  as  friends,  not  as  enemies,-  as 
protectors,  not  as  conquerors.  We  come  among  you  for  your  oivn  benefit,  not  for  your 
injury. — Appendix  to  Congressional  Globe,  volume  22,  page  777. 

He  next  speaks  to  the  people  of  New  Mexico  in  a  iiroclamation 
dated  August  22,  1846,  and  used  this  language : 

Proclamation  to  the  inhabitants  of  New  Mexico,  by  Brigadier-General  S.  W. 
Kearny,  commanding  the  troops  of  the  United  States  in  the  same. 

As  by  the  act  of  the  republic  of  Mexico  a  state  of  war  exists  between  that  gov- 
ernment and  the  United  States,  and  as  the  undersigned,  at  the  head  of  his  troops, 
on  the  18th  instant,  took  possession  of  Santa  r6,  the  capital  of  the  department  of 
New  Mexico,  he  now  announces  his  intention  to  hold  the  department,  with  its  orig- 
inal boundaries,  on  both  sides  of  the  Del  Norte,  as  a  part  of  the  United  States,  and 
under  the  name  of  "the  Territory  of  New  Mexico." 

The  undersigned  has  come  to  New  Mexico  with  a  strong  military  force,  and  aa 
equally  strong  one  is  following  close  in  his  rear.  He  has  more  troops  than  neces- 
sary to  put  down  any  opposition  that  can  possiblj'  be  brought  against  him,  and 
therefore  it  would  be  but  folly  or  madness  for  any  dissatisfied  or  discontented  per- 
sons to  think  of  resisting  him. 

The  undersigned  has  instructions  from  his  Grovemment  to  respect  the  religious 
institutions  of  New  Mexico  ;  to  protect  the  property  of  the  church  ;  to  cause  the 
worship  or  those  belonging  to  it  to  be  undisturbed,  and  their  religious  rights  in  the 
amplest  manner  preserved  to  them ;  also  to  protect  the  persons  and  property  of  aU 
quiet  and  peaceable  inhabitants  within  its  boundaries  against  their  enemies,  the 
Eutaws,  the  Navajoes,  and  others ;  and  when  he  assures  all  that  it  wiU  be  his 
pleasure  as  well  as  his  duty  to  comply  with  those  instructions,  he  caUs  upon  them  to 
exert  themselves  in  preserving  order,  in  promoting  concord,  and  iu  maintaining  the 
authority  and  eflScacy  of  the  laws ;  and  he  requires  of  those  who  have  left  their 


12 

homes  and  taken  up  arms  against  the  troops  of  the  United  States  to  return  forth- 
with to  them,  or  else  they  will  be  considered  as  enemies  and  traitors,  subjecting 
their  persons  to  punishment  and  their  property  to  seizure  and  confiscation  for  the 
benefit  of  the  public  Treasury. 

It  is  the  wish  and  intention  of  the  United  States  to  provide  for  Kew  Mexico  a  free 
government  with  the  least  possible  delay,  similar  to  those  in  the  United  States  ;  and 
the  people  of  'New  Mexico  will  then  be  called  on  to  exercise  the  rights  of  freemen  in 
electing  their  own  representatives  to  the  tenltorial  Legislature.  But  until  this  can 
be  done  the  laws  hitherto  in  existence  will  be  continued  until  changed  or  modified 
by  competent  authority,  and  those  persons  holding  ofiice  will  continue  in  the  same 
for  the  present,  provided  they  will  consider  themselves  good  citizens  and  willing 
to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States. 

The  undersigned  hereby  absolves  all  persons  residing  within  the  boundaries  of 
"New  Mexico  from  any  further  allegiance  to  the  republic  of  Mexico,  and  hereby 
claims  them  as  citizens  of  the  United  States.  Those  who  remain  quiet  and  peace- 
able will  be  considered  good  citizens  and  receive  protection ;  those  who  are  found 
in  arms,  or  instigating  others  against  the  United  States,  will  be  considered  as  trai- 
tors,  and  treated)accordingly. 

Don  Manuel  Armijo,  the  late  governor  of  this  department,  has  fled  from  it.  The 
undersigned  has  taken  possesvsion  of  it  without  filing  a  gun  or  spilling  a  single 
drop  of  blood,  in  which  he  most  truly  rejoices,  and  for  the  present  will  be  consid- 
ered as  governor  of  the  Territory. 

Given  at  Santa  F6,  the  capital  of  the  Territory  of  New  Mexico,  the  22A  day  of 
August,  1846,  and  in  the  seventy-first  year  of  the  independence  of  the  United 
States. 

S   W.  KEAKXT, 
Brigadier-General  United  States  Army. 

By  the  governor : 

Juan  Bautista  Vigil  t  Alarid. 

In  the  first  proclamation  he  says  under  instructions  from  his  Gov- 
ernment he  seeks  union  with  and  desires  to  ameliorate  the  condition 
of  the  people,  and  his  military  force  is  for  that  purpose.  In  the  second 
he  says  by  order  of  his  Government  he  comes  to  take  possession  of 
the  country,  and  extend  over  it  the  laws  of  the  United  States ;  that 
he  came  as  a  friend  and  not  an  enemy,  as  protector  and  not  as  con- 
queror. In  the  third  he  declares  it  is  the  intention  of  the  United 
States  to  provide  New  Mexico  with  a  free  government  similar  to  that 
in  the  United  States.  He  then  absolves  the  people  from  their  alle- 
giance to  Mexico,  and  claims  them  as  citizens  of  the  United  States. 
In  other  words,  our  Government  wanted  to  acquire  New  Mexico.  She 
promised  in  return  friendship  and  free  government.  But  I  beg  espe- 
cial attention  to  that  portion  of  the  last  proclamation  which  says  : 

It  is  the  wish  and  intention  of  the  United  States  to  provide  for  ]N^ew  Mexico  a 
free  government  with  the  least  possible  delay,  similar  to  those  in  the  United 
States ;  and  the  people  of  Xew  Mexico  will  be  called  on  to  exercise  the  rights  of 
freemen  in  electing  their  own  representatives  to  the  territorial  Legislature. 

This  language  contains  a  promise,  and  that  promise  was  made  by 
the  Government  to  the  people  of  New  Mexico,  because  General 
Kearny  was  not  only  a  military  officer  in  our  service,  but  he  was 


13 

clothed  witli  extraordinary  powers  from  our  Government  in  respect 
to  Ms  conduct  in  New  Mexico,  and  had  full  power  and  authority 
to  make  the  assurances  he  did.  Under  this  promise  the  people  at  once 
ceased  all  opposition  to  our  forces,  laid  down  their  arms,  believing  they 
were  to  be  rewarded  for  so  doing — and  how?  "  With  a  free  govern- 
ment with  the  least  possible  delay,  similar  to  those  in.  the  United 
States,  and  to  exercise  the  rights  of  freemen  in  electing  their  own 
representatives  to  the  territorial  Legislature."  The  people  believed 
at  that  time  that  this  language  created  an  obligation  on  the  part  of 
the  Government  to  admit  them  as  a  State  at  once ;  and  acting  on  this 
idea,  immediately  after  the  treaty  they  applied  for  admission.  Their 
leaders  and  the  intelligent  portion  of  the  whole  Territory  so  construed 
the  proclamation  and  address  of  General  Kearny,  and  with  this  idea 
they  gave  in  their  adhesion  to  our  cause  and  did  not  fire  a  gun ;  it 
was  with  them  a  contract,  a  bond  of  faith,  for  the  keeping  of  which 
they  were  to  be  "  admitted  into  the  Union,  as  they  believed,  and  to 
the  exercise  of  the  rights  of  freemen." 

And  I  submit  just  here,  with  and  to  a  people  unaccustomed  to  our 
institutions,  and  but  partially  acquainted  with  our  governmental 
system.  Constitution,  and  laws,  was  not  this  construction  natural, 
fair,  and  just  ?  I  know  it  may  be  claimed  that  the  import  of  the 
language  was  that  they  should  be  admitted  to  a  territorial  condition, 
but  I  know  they  did  not  so  understand  it.  They  construed  the  words 
"free  government  similar  to  those  in  the  United  States"  to  refer  to 
States ;  and  this  was  entirely  correct,  because  there  is  no  such  thing  in 
a  Territory  as  free  government.  They  were  willing  and  anxious  to 
become  a  part  and  portion  of  our  Government.  Many  American  mer- 
chants had  for  a  long  time  previous  resided  there,  and  not  an  incon- 
siderable commerce  had  grown  up  between  New  Mexico  and  the  States, 
and  the  people  had  become  attached  to  our  institutions.  But  let  us 
proceed  to  the  treaty. 

About  two  years  after  the  date  of  this  proclamation  New  Mexico 
was  ceded  to  the  United  States  by  the  ratification  of  the  treaty,  the 
ninth  article  of  which  contained  in  substance  the  promise  made  in  the 
proclamation  of  General  Kearny,  which  is  as  follows : 

Mexicans  who,  in  the  territories  aforesaid,  shall  not  preserve  the  character  of 
citizens  of  the  Mexican  Republic,  conformably  with  what  is  stipulated  in  the  pre- 
ceding article  shall  be  incorporated  into  the  Union  of  the  United  States,  and  be 
admitted  at  the  proper  time  (to  be  judged  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States)  to 
the  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  of  citizens  of  the  United  States,  according  to  the 
principles  of  the  Constitution.— Z7/iited  States  Statutes  at  Large,  -volume  9. 

By  section  8  of  the  treaty  it  was  provided  that  Mexican  citizens 
who  should  elect  to  retain  their  character  as  such  should  do  so  within 
one  year  after  the  date  of  the  treaty,  and  those  who  should  fail  to  do 
so  should  become  citizens  of  the  United  States.    At  that  time  New 


14 

Mexico  contained  about  forty  thousand  inhabitants,  out  of  which  num- 
ber only  about  three  hundred  elected  to  retain  their  character  as  Mexi- 
can citizens,  the  remainder  en  masse  acting  upon  the  idea  that  the 
promise  of  General  Kearny,  confirmed  by  the  treaty  as  they  supposed, 
would  admit  them  as  a  State,  enthusiastically  transferred  their  alle- 
giance from  the  government  of  Mexico ;  and  although  disappointed  in 
their  hopes  of  absolute  rights,  they  have  ever  been  loyal  and  law- 
abiding. 

But  as  to  the  exact  and  known  policy  of  our  Government  both  before 
and  after  the  treaty  in  respect  to  New  Mexico  and  California  we  are 
not  left  to  conjecture,  but  have  the  most  positive  proof  from  the 
highest  sources. 

President  Taylor,  who  followed  the  policy  of  President  Polk,  in 
avowing  his  action  in  a  message  to  Congress,  said : 

I  did  not  hesitate  to  express  to  the  people  of  those  Territories  my  desire  that  each 
Territory  should,  if  prepared  to  comply  with  the  requirements  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  form  a  plan  of  a  State  constitution  and  submit  the  same  to 
Congress  with  a  prayer  for  admission  into  the  Union  as  a  State. 

And  he  again  said : 

In  advising  an  early  application  by  the  people  of  these  Territories  for  admission 
as  States  I  was  actuated  principally  by  a  desire  to  afford  to  the  wisdom  and  patriot- 
ism of  Congress  the  opportunity  of  avoiding  occasions  of  bitter  and  angry  discus- 
sions among  the  people  of  the  United  States.  (See  Appendix  to  Congressional  Globe, 
first  session  Thirty-first  Congress.) 

This  was  in  accordance  with  the  promise  of  General  Kearny. 

President  Taylor  also,  in  his  annual  message  of  4th  of  December, 
1849,  said: 

The  people  of  New  Mexico  will  also,  it  is  believed,  at  no  very  distant  period  pre 
sent  themselves  for  admission. 

Here  we  have  the  policy  of  the  Government  immediately  after  the 
treaty  unequivocally  set  forth.  The  President  declares  he  did  advise 
the  people  of  those  Territories  to  apply  for  admission.  He  could  not 
do  otherwise,  because  he  was  bound  by  the  promises  made  by  the 
officers  of  our  Government  previous  to  thetreaty  which  secured  New 
Mexico  and  California  without  a  struggle. 

But,  Mr.  Speaker,  let  us  admit  for  a  moment  that  there  were  no 
promises  nor  assurances  made  by  our  Government  to  the  people  of 
New  Mexico  pre\'ious  to  the  treaty  that  were  binding,  and  that  their 
claims  to  admission  must  rest  solely  in  the  discretion  of  Congress,  as 
provided  in  the  words  of  the  treaty,  "  to  be  admitted  at  the  j)roper 
time,  to  be  judged  of  by  Congress." 

Now  I  beg  to  inquire  when  should  this  discretion  and  judgment  be 
exercised?  How  long  can  it  be  delayed?  Can  Congress  arbitrarily 
prolong  the  exercise  of  it ;  or  should  it  be  a  sound  discretion,  like 
the  discretion  of  a  court,  to  be  exercised  within  a  reasonable  time. 


15 

wisely,  equitably,  and  impartially?  In  my  opinion  it  means  and 
obliges  this  Government  to  deal  and  act  with  the  people  of  New  Mex- 
ico just  as  it  would  and  has  with  her  own  people  in  like  cases  and 
under  similar  circumstances.  It  certainly  means  this  much,  in  other 
words,  that  Congress  would  require  no  more  of  New  Mexico  for  ad- 
mission than  it  did  at  the  time  of  the  admission,  or'  since,  of  any  other 
Territory  not  protected  by  the  treaty.  Has  Congress  done  this  ?  Not 
at  all.  She  has  admitted  Oregon,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  and  Nevada,  and 
denied  New  Mexico  admission ;  ignored  her  petitions  and  memorials, 
although  she  had  more  population  than  either  of  these  States  when 
they  were  admitted.  This  seems  to  me  a  clear  and  positive  violation 
of  the  treaty  and  of  our*pledged  faith. 

As  to  the  proper  construction  of  the  ninth  article  of  the  treaty,  I 
desire  to  refer  to  the  speech  of  Mr.  Peck,  of  Vermont,  made  in  the 
House  in  1850,  on  the  admission  of  California.  He  says,  referring  to 
the  proclamation  of  General  Kearny  and  other  officers : 

These  provinces  were  conquered,  and,  by  the  treaty  of  peace,  ceded  to  this  coun- 
try. What  effect  these  proclamations  had  upon  the  conduct  of  the  inhabitants,  it  is 
difficult  to  determine ;  but  the  assurances  made  by  those  acting  under  the  authority 
of  the  Grovemment  have  not  been  carried  out.  .No  government  has  been  established. 
We  ought  not  to  lose  sight  of  the  obligations  imposed  upon  us  by  the  acts  of  the  author- 
ized agents  of  the  Government  and  by  the  terms  of  the  treaty.  By  the  ninth  article  of  the 
treaty  Congress,  it  is  true,  is  to  determine  the  time  when  they  shall  be  admitted  into 
the  Union.  The  matter  is  16ft  to  the  discretion  of  Congress ;  but  in  order  to  carry  out 
in  good  faith  this  stipulation,  the  discretion  to  be  exercised  should  be  a  sound  one, 
one  not  influenced  by  caprice  or  controlled  by  formal  objections.  These  Mexican 
citizens,  in  conjunction  with  American  citizens  who  have  emigrated  from  the  different 
States  of  the  "Union,  now  claim  to  be  admitted.  Considering  all  the  circumstances  of 
the  case,  the  population  of  the  Territorj-  and  its  character,  the  extent  of  her  commerce 
and  the  necessity  of  some  regularly  organized  government,  can  any  one  seriously 
doubt  that  it  is  the  duty  of  Congress,  in  the  proper  exercise  of  its  discretion,  to  ad- 
mit her  as  a  State  ?  Sir,  it  will  be  recollected  that  the  treaty  with  the  French  Ee- 
public  by  which  we  acquired  Louisiana  contained  a  stipulation  very  similar  in  its 
terms  to  the  ninth  article  of  the  Mexican  treaty.  It  will  also  be  remembered  that 
when  Louisiana  applied  for  admission  the  application  met  with  very  serious  oppo- 
sition from  northern  statesmen,  on  constitutional  grounds,  they  insisting  that  Con- 
gress had  no  power,  under  the  Constitution,  to  acquire  foreign  territory  and  admit 
it  as  a  State.  The  question  was  much  discussed,  and  Mr.  Poindext«r,  the  Dele- 
gate from  the  then  Territory  of  Mississippi,  after  replying  at  great  length  to  the 
various  arguments  urged  against  her  admission,  and  referring  to  the  third  article 
of  the  treaty,  put  an  inquiry  which  is  not  inappropriate  to  the  present  case:  "And 
are  we  here  sitting  to  deliberate  whether  we  will  perform  the  solemn  engagements 
which  have  been  entered  into  by  the  constituted  authorities,  and  which  are  pre- 
sented to  us  in  the  imposing  attitude  of  the  supreme  law  of  the  land?"  Sir,  what 
satisfactory  response  could  we  make  on  the  present  occasion  to  a  similar  inquiry  ? 
None,  in  my  judgment.  France  was  then  all-powerful,  and  could  enforce  the  due 
observance  of  any  treaty  stipulation  with  a  foreign  power.  This  Mexico  cannot 
do,  but  this  fact  does  not  lessen  our  obligations, — Appendix  Congressional  Globe, 
volume  22,  page  516. 

This  language  was  used  immediataly  after  the  treaty  was  ratified, 


16 

-when  the  history  of  the  whole  transaction  and  the  facts  were  fresh  in 
the  minds  of  the  people.  Twenty-six  years  have  passed  by  and  the 
treaty  still  stands  violated  in  respect  to  New  Mexico.  Conld  we  if 
called  on  make  any  proper  or  reasonable  answer  for  our  conduct  ?  If 
Mr.  Peck's  speech  was  timely  and  his  construction  correct  then,  how 
much  more  imperative  is  it  the  duty  of  Congress  to  admit  New  Mexico 
now  ?  In  my  opinion  there  was  no  answer  to  his  argument  then,  and 
there  can  certainly  be  none  now.  California  was  admitted  under  this 
construction  of  the  treaty. 

Senator  Hamlin,  of  Maine,  who  is  still  honored  and  distinguished 
ill  the  public  service,  in  speaking  of  the  proper  construction  to  be 
given  to  the  ninth  article  of  the  treaty,  in  his  ^i^eech  on  the  admission 
of  California  says: 

There  is  iu  the  ninth  article  of  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Mexico  a  stipulation  that 
the  Territories  ceded  to  our  Grovernment  shall  l6e  incorporated  into  the  Union  of 
the  United  States.  There  should  he  no  obligation  of  a  nation  more  sacred  or  more 
faithfully  complied  with  than  that  whichis  contained  in  its  treaties  with  other  govern- 
Tnents.  Our  treaty  with  Mexico  imposes  upon  us  an  ohligationyfhicli  we  cannot  dis- 
regard at  this  tiyne,  unless  we  mean  to  he  faithless  to  our  treaty  stipulations.  Now, 
such  Mexicans  as  remained  in  the  Territory  twelve  months  after  the  ratification  of 
the  treaty  of  peace  with  Mexico  became  thereby  American  citizens.  Under  the 
ninth  article  it  is  expressly  stipulated  that  they  shall  be  incorporated  into  the 
Union  of  the  United  States,  and  be  admitted  at  the  proper  time  (to  be  judged  of  by 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States)  to  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  of  citizens  of 
the  United  States.  Taking  the  existing  state  of  things  into  account,  who  can  doubt 
for  a  single  moment  what  is  our  dutj',  and  whether  we  should  not  give  our  assent 
now  ?  True,  we  are  made  the  tribunal  which  is  to  judge  of  the  time.  In  the  exer- 
cise of  that  power  we  are  to  deal  justly;  and  with  the  population  now  iu  California, 
and  with  its  rapid  increase,  we  are  bound  by  the  highest  consideration  to  admit 
California.  To  my  mind  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt.  It  is  certainly  no  more 
than  fair  to  admit  that,  when  California  has  a  population  as  large  as  she  has  now, 
we  should  admit  her  at  once  and  without  delay. — Ibidem,  page  248. 

Senator  Hamlin  uses  clear  and  forcible  language  and  makes  the 
duty  and  obligations  of  the  Government  under  the  treaty  plain.  If 
he  was  right  then,  what  answer  is  there  or  what  excuse  can  be  pleaded 
for  denying  New  Mexico  admission  for  twenty-six  years  ?  Our  Gov- 
ernment has  continued  this  mistake  and  injustice  toward  New  Mexico 
too  long,  and  it  should  be  only  too  willing  to  correct  it  by  her  im- 
mediate admission. 

But  that  the  entire  duty  of  Congress  in  the  premises  may  be  uvade 
clear  and  relieved  of  all  doubt,  I  beg  to  refer  to  the  assurances  con- 
tained in  the  letter  of  Mr.  Buchanan,  Secretary  of  State,  to  the  min- 
ister of  foreign  relations  of  the  Mexican  government,  dated  March 
18,  1848,  in  respect  to  the  alterations  made  in  the  ninth  article  of 
the  treaty  by  our  Senate.  It  will  be  remembered  that  owing  to  these 
alterations,  one  of  which  was  inserting  the  words  "to  be  judged  of 
by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,"  the  Mexican  govoinmont  re- 


17 

fused  to  ratify  the  treaty  because  her  statesmen  were  fearful  the  peo- 
ple in  the  t<irritories  about  to  be  ceded  would  not  be  admitted  to  all 
the  rights  of  American  citizens.  In  the  letter  referred  to  Mr.  Buchanan 
used  this  language : 

Congress,  under  all  the  circumstances,  and  under  the  treaties,  are  the  sole  judges 
of  this  proper  time,  because  they,  and  they-  alone,  under  the  Federal  Constitution, 
have  jKJwer  to  admit  new  States  into  the  Union.  That  they  will  always  exercise 
this  power  as  soon  as  the  condition  of  the  inhabitants  of  any  acquired  territory 
may  render  it  proper,  cannot  be  doubted.  By  this  means  the  Federal  Treasury  can 
alone  be  relieved  from  the  expense  of  supporting  territorial  governments.  Besides, 
Congress  will  never  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  a  people  anxious  to  enjoy  the  privilege  of 
self-government.  Their  desire  to  become  one  of  the  States  of  this  Union  will  be 
granted  the  moment  it  can  be  done  with  safety. — Ibidem,  page  415. 

On  this  assurance  the  Mexican  government  ratified  the  treaty,  and 
I  claim  we  are  solemnly  bound  by  it.  That  the  people  of  New  Mexico 
confidently  believed  they  would  be  admitted  as  a  State  into  the 
Union,  induced  to  this  belief  by  General  JKeamy's  proclamation,  the 
letter  of  Mr.  Buchanan,  and  the  treaty,  is  amply  established  by  the 
fact  that  as  soon  as  possible  after  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  they 
called  a  convention,  framed  a  constitution,  elected  United  States 
Senators,  and  presented  a  memorial  to  Congress  praying  for  admission 
in  which  they  used  the  following  language,  referring  to  Greneral  Kear- 
ny's proclamation : 

We  were  promised  at  the  time  Xew  Mexico  was  taken  possession  of  by  the  Ameri- 
can forces  in  1846  the  extension  of  a  civil  government  over  us  and  protection  against 
the  savage  foes  that  surround  us,  and  under  the  treaty  with  Mexico  we  were  as- 
sured of  our  being  speedily  placed  under  the  full  protection  of  the  Constitution , 
with  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  citizens  of  the  United  States.  We  relied  con- 
fidently on  the  promises  held  out  to  us ,-  we  relied  still  more  on  the  treaty  stipulations. 
(See  Senate  document  No.  76,  first  session  Thirty-first  Congress,  volume  14.) 

This  memorial  was  adopted  in  1850  by  the  State  convention,  and 
shows  clearly  how  the  assurances  of  our  Government  and  the  treaty 
were  construed.  Admission  wa«  refused  New  Mexico  at  that  time 
only  because  of  the  agitation  of  the  slavery  question,  and  for  no 
other  reason.  Mr.  Buchanan's  assurance  and  construction  were  that 
Congress  would  never  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  a  people  anxious  to  enjoy  the 
privileges  of  self-government.  Yet  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury the  United  States,  in  the  face  of  this  solemn  assurance,  which  in 
part  secured  the  ratification  of  the  treaty,  have  been  deaf  to  the  peti- 
tions of  New  Mexico  for  admission.  He  further  assured  the  govern- 
ment of  Mexico  that  the  desire  of  the  peoj)le  to  become  a  State  would 
he  granted  as  soon  as  it  could  be  done  with  safety.  Now,  I  beg  to  sub- 
mit if  it  is  now  or  ever  has  been  unsafe  at  any  time  within  the  past 
twenty-six  years  to  admit  New  Mexico  ? 

If  the  construction  placed  by  me  upon  the  assurances  of  our  Gov- 
'ernment  and  the  treaty  be  proper  and  fair,  and  it  must  be  because  it 
2e 


18 

is  not  only  justified  by  the  language  itself  but  by  the  whole  history 
of  the  transaction,  the  known  intention  of  the  contracting  parties  at 
the  time,  and  the  understanding  of  the  people  upon  whom  it  operated,, 
then  to  refuse  the  passage  of  this  bill  would,  in  my  opinion,  be  a  viola- 
tion of  the  pledged  faith  of  the  nation. 

This  Government  is  making  history ;  and  as  we*build,  not  only  is  a 
sister  republic  anxiously  looking  on,  deeply  concerned  for  the  welfare 
of  her  sons,  who,  though  torn  from  her  by  the  fortunes  of  war,  she 
endeavored  to  protect  by  treaty,  but  we  are  standing  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  nations  of  the  world ;  and  as  we  keep  our  faith  and 
guard  our  honor,  so  shall  we  be  judged  and  esteemed.  Congress  can 
better  afford  to  yield  to  a  liberal  construction  of  the  treaty  than  abate 
one  jot  or  tittle  the  smallest  right  guaranteed  under  its  provisions. 
This  application  for  the  admission  of  New  Mexico  is  not  only  based 
on  her  clear  right  independent  of  the  treaty,  but  on  the  treaty  itself ; 
and  the  question  reduces  itself  not  to  what  may  be  desirable  or  ex- 
pedient, or  whether  there  will  be  more  power  in  the  Senate  or  on  thi  & 
floor,  but  what  is  the  entire  duty  of  Congress  in  the  premises. 

I  might  rest  with  confidence  the  cause  of  New  Mexico  just  here ;  but 
being  anxious  to  make  it  doubly  sure,  I  desire  to  claim  that  under  a 
fair  interpretation  of  the  treaty  the  ratio  prescribed  at  its  date  should 
be  the  governing  one,  and  the  only  one,  and  not  the  ratio  now. 
^  Florida,  with  a  treaty  stipulation  similar  to  the  ninth  article  of  the 
Mexican  treaty,  claimed  admission  on  this  ground,  and  was  admitted 
with  a  less  population  than  prescribed  as  the  ratio  at  that  time.  The 
sixth  article  of  the  treaty  with  Spain  by  which  Florida  was  ceded  says : 

That  the  inhahitants  of  the  territories  which  His  Catholic  Majesty  cedes  to  the 
United  States  hy  this  treaty  shall  he  incorporated  into  the  Union  of  the  United 
States  as  soon  as  may  be  consistent  with  the  principles  of  the  Federal  Constitution, 
and  admitted  to  the  enjoymcm  of  aU  the  privileges,  rights,  and  immunities  of  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Sumner,  with  an  ever-jealous  regard  to  a  faithful  performance 
of  our  treaty  obligations  and  the  doing  of  exact  justice  by -the  whole 
country,  in  the  greatest  speech  of  his  lif^  '*  The  crime  against  Kan- 
sas," lays  down  the  same  rule.  In  volume  4,  page  220,  of  his  Works, 
he  says : 

If  any  ratio  is  to  be  made  the  foundation  of  binding  rule,  it  should  at  least  be  tha  t 
which  prevailed  when  Kansas  was  acquired  from  Prance,  under  solemn  stipula- 
tion that  it  should  be  incorporated  in  the  Union  of  the  United  States  and  admitted 
as  soon  as  possible,  according  to  the  principles  of  the  Federal  Constitution. 

And  in  doing  this  he  referred  to  the  treaty  stipulations  with  Florida, 
and  incorporated  into  his  speech  the  memorial  of  the  people  of  that 
State. 

Mr.  Sumner  was  a  great  international  lawyer,  and  this  rule  has 
mjich  force,  having  received  his  sanction ;  tried  by  it,  New  Mexico 


19 

mnst  be  admitted,  because  at  the  date  of  the  treaty  the  ratio  was 
about  eighty  thousand.    There  is  no  escape  from  this  position. 

Then,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  ask,  and  appeal  to  this  House,  if  with  such  a 
record  as  this ;  with  135,000  people  with  neither  county  nor  territorial 
debt  to  speak  of ;  with  good  credit ;  with  good  public  schools  liber- 
ally supported ;  with  a  fixed  and  permanent  population ;  with  sub- 
stantial wealth ;  with  a  traffic  and  internal  commerce  of  her  own, 
built  up  with  her  own  energies  and  without  aid ;  with  such  agricultu- 
ral, pastoral,  and  mineral  resources,  such  a  brilliant  future ;  with 
more  population  than  some  of  the  States  now  in  the  Union  have,  and 
more  than  fifteen  States  had  when  they  were  admitted  into  the  Union ; 
with  precedent,  and,  above  all,  with  treaty  obligations  thrown  around 
her,  is  it  strange  or  unnatural  that  New  Mexico  should  ask  admission 
into  the  Union,  a  seat  at  the  table  of  States,  and  a  right  to  local  self- 
government  ?  Is  it  not  stranger  that,  imder  all  these  circumstances, 
that  admission  has  been  so  long  delayed  and  an  act  of  obvious  justice 
to  her  people  so  deliberately  evaded  by  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  f 

She  has  seen  other  States  admitted  and  her  claims  ignored ;  she  has 
passed  and  presented  memorials  but  to  see  them  cast  aside  without 
action.  She  now  brings  you  the  last  appeal,  praying  for  admission,  with 
the  earnest  hope  that  the  unjust  discrimination  and  distinction  made 
in  her  case  in  the  past  be  no  longer  continued  against  her.  The  peo- 
ple of  New  Mexico  are  becoming  sensitive  on  the  subject  of  admission 
into  the  Union,  and  wonder  if  the  unvarying  precedents  and  constant 
practice  of  this  Government  for  three-quarters  of  a  century  can  be 
departed  from  in  her  case,  and  the  treaty  stipulation,  made  so  strong 
in  their  behelf,  means  anything,  or  if  its  obligations  in  respect  to  them 
can  be  slighted  and  disregarded  and  there  be  no  appeal.  There  is  cer- 
tainly no  good  reason  for  this  treatment  on  the  part  of  the  Govern- 
ment.   Nothing  can  be  urged  against  the  people  of  New  Mexico. 

They  are  loyal  and  law-abiding,  peaceable,  well-disposed,  and 
wedded  to  our  institutions.  They  love  our  country,  our  Union,  and 
our  laws.  Though  our  adopted  sons  by  the  fortunes  of  war,  their  con- 
duct during  the  rebellion  furnishes  a  bright  example  of  patriotism 
and  loyalty  which  certainly  deserves  a  better  recognition  now  than 
injustice  and  discrimination. 

The  admission  of  New  Mexico  has  been  too  long  postponed ;  this 
simple  act  of  justice  too  long  delayed.  It  is  a  question  which  addresses 
itself  now  to  the  nation's  conscience,  to  be  settled  in  the  light  of 
precedent  and  treaty  obligations,  and  demands  immediate  action. 
The  time  for  indifference  and  delay  has  long  since  passed. 


HISTORY. 


WEALTH  AND  RESOURCES, 

MINERAL,  PASTORAL,  AM)  AGRICULTURAL. 


RELATIONS    TO   THE  COTJNTEY,  AND    PROBABILITIES    OF 
HER  FUTURE. 


HISTORY 


RESOURCES  OF  NEW  MEXICO. 


Mr.  Speaker,  New  Mexico  being  so  little  known  beyond  lier  borders, 
with  the  view  of  substantiating  to  some  extent  my  statements  in 
respect  to  her  great  wealth,  I  beg  the  indulgence  of  the  House  for 
a  few  moments  longer,  that  I  may  refer  briefly  to  her  history,  loca- 
tion, and  relations  to  the  whole  country,  as  also  furnish  some  statis- 
tical information  as  to  her  resources. 

New  Mexico  is  a  portion  of  that  vast  territory,  an  empire  within 
itself,  which  was  acquired  by  the  United  States  from  Mexico. 

As  early  as  the  year  1526,  and  within  thirty-four  years  after  the 
discovery  by  Columbus,  bold  and  adventurous  leaders  of  Spanish  col- 
onists were  traversing  her  plains,  crossing  her  rivers  and  mountains, 
in  search  of  the  far-famed  El  Dorado  and  the  fountain  of  perpetual 
youth,  stimulated  and  quickened  in  their  arduous  undertakings  by 
the  traditions  and  tales  of  the  natives  that  both  might  be  found  in. 
the  land  toward  the  going  down  of  the  sun. 

New  Mexico  was  known  to  the  Europeans  nearly  a  century  before 
the  landing  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  and  two  centuries  before  the  dec- 
laration of  independence.  She  has  passed  under  and  formed  a  por- 
tion of  the  history  of  three  governments.  If  the  date  of  the  taking 
of  the  city  of  Mexico  and  the  imprisonment  of  Montezuma,  in  1519, 
by  Cortez,  in  the  name  of  his  master,  the  King  of  Spain,  perfected 
as  it  was  by  the  boldest  act  of  perfidy  and  cruelty  on  record,  can  be 
assumed  as  the  time  when  Mexico  became  a  portion  of  the  colonial 
possessions  of  Spain,  then  for  more  than  three  hundred  years  she 
was  a  province  of  that  kingdom  and  ruled  by  her  kings.  In  1821 
Mexican  independence  was  established,  and  she  became  a  part  of  the 
republic  of  Mexico,  and  continued  so  until  1848,  since  which  time 
she  has  been  a  Territory  of  the  United  States. 

Santa  F6,  the  capital,  is  the  oldest  town  in  the  United  States  except 
San  Augustine,  Florida,  and  has  always  been  the  seat  of  the  civil  and 
military  government  under  Spain,  Mexico,  and  the  United  States,  and 
the  chief  commercial  city  of  the  Territory.  "  Te  Deum  laudamm^'was 
sung,  as  it  is  now,  in  her  churches  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago. 
And  her  palace,  old  and  unique,  but  dear  to  the  people,  furnishes  a 
home  for  the  present,  governor,  as  it  has  done  for  his  long  line  of  Mexi- 
can and  Spanish  predecessors  reaching  back  for  nearly  three  hundred 
years. 

Her  claims  to  an  old  civilization,' large  population,  and  immense 
wealth  anterior  to  the  advent  of  the  Europeans  is  not  only  confirmed 
by  history,  but  by  the  frequent  discoveries  of  the  ruins  of  ancient 
cities,  canals,  and  mines  at  this  day  in  portions  of  the  Territory,  the 
people  of  the  cities,  as  tradition  teaches,  being  tributary  to  the  princes 
of  Montezuma,  and  her  mines  worked  to  increase  their  fabulous  wealth. 
The  people  found  in  New  Mexico  by  the  Eiuropeans  were  the  descend- 


24 

ants  of  the  Aztecs — the  Paehlo  Indians — now  rednced  to  twenty- 
villages  and  about  eijj:ht  thousand  souls,  the  last  remnant  of  the  wor- 
shipers of  the  sun.  They  are  a  quiet,  peaceable,  self-sustaining,  and 
well-behaved  people,  dependent  on  agriculture  and  stock-raising  for 
means  of  support.  They  are  honest  and  law-abiding.  In  twenty- 
six  years  only  about  three  of  all  their  number  have  been  charged 
with  crime.  Such  a  parallel  cannot  be  found  in  the  history  of  this  or 
any  other  country ;  and  so  successfully  have  they  resisted  contact  with 
European  and  American  civilization  in  its  best  and  worst  forms,  that 
the  accounts  given  of  them — the  names  of  their  villages,  their  cus- 
toms, manners,  modes  of  dress,  and  means  of  support — by  Cabeza  de 
Baca  and  Coronado,  three  hundred  years  ago,  so  faithfully  translated 
and  grai)hically  described  by  Mr.  Bancroft,  would  be  true  and  perfect 
history  to-day. 

New  Mexico,  according  to  its  present  boundaries,  is  included  be- 
tween 32°  and  37°  north  latitude  and  103°  and  109°  west  longitude, 
lies  south  of  Colorado  and  east  of  Arizona  Territories,  and  embraces 
an  area  of  121,000  square  miles,  or  about  77,000,000  acres  of  land, 
7,000,000  of  which,  it  is  estimated,  are  now  covered  by  private  land 
grants  and  military  and  Indian  reservations,  leaving  70,000,000  acres 
of  public  domain. 

The  Territory  is  more  than  three  times  as  large  as  Ohio,  one  hun- 
dred and  sixteen  times  as  large  as  Rhode  Island,  three  times  as  large 
as  all  New  England,  and  larger  than  Ncav  England  and  New  York. 
The  average  altitude  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  Territory  is 
about  4,000  and  in  the  northern  portion  about  6,000  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea.  The  great  chain  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  stretch- 
ing from  British  America  into  the  republic  of  Mexico,  passes  through, 
the  middle  and  western  portion  of  the  Territory,  which  is  watered  by 
the  Rio  Grande,  PeCos,  San  Juan,  Red,  Mora,  and  Puerco  Rivers,  and 
many  other  smaller  streams.  The  Rio  Grande,  the  largest  of  the  riv- 
ers, is  the  "Nile"  of  America,  and  runs  from  north  to  south  through 
the  middle  portion  of  the  Territory.  The  valleys  on  both  sides  .  em- 
brace as  rich  lands  as  can  be  found  in  the  world ;  having  been  culti- 
vated for  more  than  two  centuries,  they  grow  richer  instead  of  their 
strength  being  depleted,  owing  to  the  matter  and  debris  deposited 
from  the  river  at  each  irrigation. 

CLIMATE  AND  HEALTH. 

In  the  southern  portion  of  the  Territory,  which  is  about  the  latitude 
of  Montgomery,  Alabama,  snow  is  almost  unknown.  In  the  northern 
portion,  however,  we  have  snow ;  but  it  never  lasts  more  than  a  feAV 
days,  except  high  up  in  the  mountains.  The  summers  at  Sante  F6 
are  never  oppressive.  The  highest  observed  temperature  during  the 
year  1872  was  85°  and  the  mean  of  the  temperature  for  the  year  48°. 

Dr.  Kenon,  one  of  our  leading  physicians  at  Santa  F6,  formerly  sur- 
geon in  the  United  "States  Army,  says: 

The  lowest  deatli-rate  from  tubercular  disease  in  America  is  in  New  Mexico.  The 
censuses  of  1860  and  1870  give  23  per  cent,  in  Xew  England,  14  in  Minnesota,  from  5 
to  6  in  the  different  Southern  States,  and  3  per  cent,  in  New  Mexico. 

I  have  never  known  a  case  of  bronchitis  brought  here  that  was  not  vastly  im- 
proved or  altogether  cured  ;  and  asthma  as  well. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  when  means  of  access  to  this  country  are  better  and  there- 
fore being  better  known,  it  will  rival  or  supersede  Florida,  Madeira,  Nice,  or 
Dr.  Bennetts  much-vaunted  paradise  of  Mentone  as  a  sanitarium.  The  country  is 
far  distant  from  either  ocean ;  it  is  utterly  free  from  all  causes  of  disease.  The"at- 
mo.sphere  is  almost  as  dry  as  that  of  Egypt.  The  winters  are  so  mild,  that  there 
are  not  ten  days  in  the  whole  year  an  invalid  cannot  take  exercise  in  the  open  air. 
The  summers  are  so  cool,  that  in  midsummer  one  or  two  blankets  are  necessary  to 
sleep  under.  The  whole  Territory  has  been  always  astonishingly  free  from  epi- 
demic disease. 


-^5 

Dr.  McKee,  formerly  professor  in  Jefferson  College,  Louisville,  and 
late  surgeon  in  our  volunteer  forces,  in  his  book  on  the  resources  of 
New  Mexico,  says : 

The  climate  of  l^ew  Mexico  is  very  salubrious  and  bracing ;  in  fact,  it  is  tinsur- 
passed  by  thatof  any  other  Tenitory'or  State  in  the  United  States.  The  atuiospheie 
is  light  and  dry,  even  electrical  and"  invigorating  to  such  an  extent  as  to  make  life 
and  existence  a  delight,  independent  of  any  other  source  of  enjoyment. 

RESOURCES. 

The  resources  of  New  Mexico  are  principally  agricultural,  pastoral, 
and  mineral.  The  whole  Territory  abounds  in  fertile  valleys,  whose 
soil  is  as  rich  as  can  be  found  in  any  portion  of  the  United  States.  She 
excels  as  a  wheat-producing  country,  and  with  means  of  transporta- 
tion her  flour  will  be  sold  in  competition  with  the  flour  of  Kansas 
and  Missouri  on  the  Missouri  River.  Irrigation  is  necessary  to  insure 
crops,  but  the  large  yield  more  than  compensates  for  this  extra  ex- 
pense and  labor  not  incurred  in  countries  where  irrigation  is  not  neces- 
sary. 

It  may  not  be  improper  here  to  refer  to  the  grapes  of  New.  Mexico 
and  her  capacity  as  a  wine-producing  country,  which  is  certainly  not 
surpassed  in  the  United  States.  The  valleys  of  the  Eio  Grande  and 
Pecos  Rivers  especially  produce  grapes  in  the  greatest  i)rofusion. 
Although  cultivated  in  a  rude  and  imperfect  Way  as  yet,  the  wine 
produced  is  a  good  table  wine,  and  compares  favorably  with  many  of 
the  Rhine  wines.  In  the  town  of  Bernalillo  alone,  with  about  five 
hundred  inhabitants,  there  are  annually  produced  five  hundred  bar- 
rels of  wine,  one-haK  of  which  is  consumed  in  the  town  and  the  other 
half  sold  at  from  fifty  to  sixty  dollars  per  barrel.  It  is  estimated  that 
an  acre  of  land  well  set  with  grape-bearing  vines  is  worth  fi'om  three 
to  five  hundred  dollars  per  acre,  and  that  in  the  valley  of  the  Rio 
Grande  the  area  of  the  grape  lands  is  about  one  thousand  square 
miles  or  about  six  hundrecl  and  forty  thousand  acres,  an<l  on  the 
Pecos  River  about  three  hundred  thousand  acres.  As  early  as  1804 
Baron  Humboldt  was  at  El  Paso,  and  in  his  book  on  New  Spain 
says : 

The  environs  of  El  Paso  are  a  delicious  country,  which  resembles  the  most  beauti- 
ful parts  of  Andalusia.  The  fields  are  cultivated  in  corn  and  wheat.  The  vineyards 
produce  excellent  wines,  which  are  preferred  even  to  the  wines  of  Parr  as  and  Neio  Biscay. 

This  grape-growing  area  extends  up  the  Rio  Grande  River  into  New 
Mexico,  a  distance  of  about  three  hundred  miles,  in  which  fruits  of 
ail  kinds  can  be  raised. 

PASTORAL  RES0URCK8. 

The  broad  plateaus  of  New  Mexico  are  covered  with  the  richest 
and  most  nutritious  grasses  known,  the  grama  grass  principally,  and 
they  can  never  be  used  for  anything  but  grazing  purposes,  and  New 
Mexico  is  claimed  to-day,  as  she  is  without  doubt,  the  best  grazing 
and  stock-producing  country  in  the  United  States,  and  will  continue 
to  be  so.  Stock  is  never  housed  and  never  fed,  therefore  the  cost  is 
but  trifling  compared  with  other  portions  of  the  country.  No  per- 
son who  has  paid  any  attention  to  stock-raising  in  New  Mexico,  and 
especially  sheep,  but  has  enjoyed  a  large  return  for  the  labor  and 
capital  invested.  Some  of  our  citizens  own  from  sixty  to  one  hun- 
dred thousand  head  of  sheep,  many  from  ten  to  twenty  thousand,  and 
some  as  high  as  twenty  thousand  head  of  cattle.  The  climate  is  so 
dry  and  mild  that  epidemics  never  occur  among  the  sheep  or  cattle. 

One-half  or  more  of  all  the  lands  of  New  Mexico  are  grazing  lands, 
say  forty  million  acres,  and  never  can  be  used  for  any  other  purposes ; 
and  even  if  by  a  system  of  artesian  wells  or  reservoirs  waters  could 


26 

be  collected  and  had  in  abundance  for  purposes  of  irrigation  or  agri- 
culture, these  lauds  would  not  be  used  for  these  purposes,  because 
stock-raising  is  more  proiitable. 

In  1871  Colonel  J.  F.  Chaves,  in  a  letter  to  Governor  Arny,  esti- 
mated the  number  of  sheep  in  New  Mexico  to  be  1,500,000.  This  being 
the  case,  we  can  safely  estimate  the  whole  number  now  to  be  3,500,000. 
Governor  Arny,  in  his  book  on  New  Mexico,  page  45,  says : 

For  the  profitable  raising  of  horses,  mules,  cattle,  goats,  and  slieep,  and  on  the 
most  extensive  scale,  no  portion  of  the  world  can  rival  this  district.  Its  mild 
cimate  presents  no  rigors,  while  its  mountain  slopes,  valleys,  and  plains  are  un- 
limited extents  of  pasturage. 

And  again,  at  page  41,  he  says  : 

Colorado,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona  are  pastoral  countries,  unsurpassed  in  the 
United  States  for  the  rearing  of  stock  with  but  little  expense  and  in  great  abun- 
dance ;  the  climate,  the  nature  of  the  country,  and  abundance  of  nutritious  grasses 
throughout  the  year  fit  this  country  peculiarly  for  the  rearing  of  sheep  and  cattle 
with  no  expense  but  that  of  a  few  herders  to  look  after  them,  as  they  are  never  fed 
or  housed  at  any  season  of  the  year. 

The  natural  configuration  of  this  vast  Rock,y  Mountain  region  is  not  the  least  of 
the  many  "desirable  advantages  it  presents.  It  is  situated  many"  thousand  feet  above 
tide-water,  fanned  by  the  purest  atmosphere,  and  supplied  with  innumerable  salu- 
brious streams  running  from  the  mountain  springs  and  furnishing  pure  water,  one 
of  the  essential  elements  for  the  sustenance  of  both  man  and  beast.  This  country 
has  a  high  and  dry  range,  so  conducive  to  the  health  of  all  animals,  especially 
sheep,  which  animal,  I  believe,  if  properly  reared  and  improved,  will  prove  a  greater 
source  of  wealth  than  even  our  untold  and  vast  mineral  deposits. 

Our  mesas  and  mountain  gorges  and  many  portions  of  our  valleys  are  most 
prolific  in  a  variety  of  herbage  suitable  for  all  classes  of  animals,  but  especially 
adapted  to  sheep,  and  during  winter  they  afford  a  supply  of  pasturage  so  abundant 
that  no  additional  food  is  required.  The  animals  can  have  access  to  a  continuous 
supply  of  good  food  and  pure  water  during  the  winter,  and  by  a. judicious  manage- 
ment the  only  expense  of  rearing  sheep  and  cattle  in  this  country  is  the  hire  of 
herders,  which  is  comx)aratively  a  trifle. 

This  combines  the  unanimous  testimony  of  all  people  who  have 
visited  New  Mexico,  and  of  those  who  have  written  on  her  resources. 
There  is  no  doubt  or  question  about  the  accuracy  of  these  statements 
in  any  respect. 

In  regard  to  the  mint^al  resources  of  New  Mexico,  which  all  agree 
combine  all  varieties  and  in  the  greatest  abundance,  I  beg  only  to 
Ijlace  before  Congress  the  tCvStimony  of  scientific  men  known  to  the 
whole  country,  and  who  have  no  interest  in  New  Mexico. 

General  William  J.  Palmer,  now  president  of  the  Denver  and  Rio 
Grande  Railway  Company,  in  his  report  of  surveys  across  the  conti- 
nent in  1867-'68,  on  the  thirty-second  and  thirty-fifth  parallels,  for  a 
route  extending  the  Kansas  Pacific  Railway,  says  on  pages  90-93,  in 
substance,  that  coal  is  found  on  the  line  from  the  Raton  Mountains  to 
Albuquerque,  and  further  down  the  Rio  Grande  to  El  Paso,  a  dis- 
tance of  about  five  hundred  miles,  and  from  the  Rio  Grande  River,  at 
Albuquerque,  west  as  far  as  the  Moqui  villages,  a  distance  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles.  And  in  places  where  examined  he  says 
(page  90)  this: 

Coal  apparently  is  as  good  as  the  Westmoreland  coal  of  Pennsylvania. 

In  concluding  this  subject,  (page  95  of  his  report,)  General  Palmer 
says : 

The  coal  trade  will  in  all  likelihood  be  one  of  the  largest  sources  of  business  the 
road  will  have,  and  if  they  prove  as  well  adapted  to  the  reduction  of  iron,  as  they  un- 
doubtedly are  to  locomotive  use,  the  .supplies  at  Canon  City,  Vermajo,  Placer  Mount  • 
ains,  and  along  the  Rio  Grande,  will  prove  of  the  greatest  value  in  consequence  of 
their  occurring  in  connection  with  rich  beds  of  iron  ore  and  close  to  limestone, 
and  before  long  we  may  expect  this  country  to  be  filled  with  furnaces  and  rolling- 
mills  like  the  rugged  mountains  of  Wales. 


27 

General  Palmer  further  says  in  his  report  (page  i85)  that — 

The  deposits  of  iron  are  numerous,  and  mentions  that  several  veins  of  ma^etic 
and  specular  iron  ores  were  found,  and  on  that  portion  of  the  line  in  New  Mexico. 

He  also  says : 

Gold,  siloer,  copper,  lead,  China  clay,  salt ;  all  these  have  been  developed  in  great 
abundance. 

On  page  137  he  says : 

On  the  San  Ysidro  Mountain  (which  is  in  New  Mexico)  there  are  numerous  lodes 
of  copper,  a«  well  as  silver  and  gold,  which  were  worked  many  years  ago,  before 
the  memory  of  the  oldest  inhabitant.  The  ruins  of  numerous  furnaces  and  arastras 
are  to  be  seen. 

He  further  says,  pages  147, 148 : 

From  the  above  necessarily  hasty  repertoire,  which  follows  consecutively  along 
the  route,  it  is  clear  that  the  hills  and  mountains  over  this  extended  range  contain 
■an  amount  of  mineral  wealth  of  all  kinds,  the  useful  as  well  as  the  precious,  which 
may  be  considered  practically  inexhaustible.  Fui'thermore,  that  these  subterra- 
nean treasures  are  not  confined  to  a  few  localities  far  apart,  but  have  a  remarkable 
diffusion  along  the  route.  Indeed,  from  the  Arkansas  River  to  the  western  spurs 
of  the  Coast  Eange,  near  San  Francisco,  a  distance  of  fifteen  hundred  miles,  the 
mountains,  which  one  is  never  out  of  sight  of,  may  almost  be  said  to  possess  con- 
tinuous deposits  of  one  kind  or  another  of  valuable  mineral,  which,  beginning  with 
the  coal  and  iron  of  Colorado,  end  only  with  the  quicksilver  of  New  Almaden. 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  this  survey  there  accompanied 
General  Palmer  a  number  of  scieutific  gentlemen,  mineralogists  and 
geologists,  among  whom  may  be  mentioned  Professor  Le  Conte,  of 
Philadelphia. 

.  Hon.  Rossiter  W.  Raymond,  commissioner  of  mining  statistics,  who 
is  known  and  conceded  to  be  one  of  the  best  mining  engineers  in 
the  world  and  the  acknowledged  head  of  the  profession  'ri  the  Unit'Cd 
States,  and  a  man  of  undoubted  integrity,  in  speaking  of  Ne'W  Mexico, 
in  his  report  for  1871,  says :  BaHCTOf t  LlbnttJ 

The  climate  of  New  Mexico  is  mild  and  healthy,  the  sky  as  clear  as  that  of  Italy, 
and  the  air  transparent  and  pure.  In  fact,  the  very  act  of  breathing  in  this  country 
makes  existence  in  it  a  pleasure.  The  soil  is  fertile  wherever  water  for  irrigation 
is  at  hand.  Most  of  the  plains  are  covered  with  a  very  nutritious  grass,  (grama 
grass.)  The  mountains  are  covered  with  pine,  cedar,  oak,  &c.,  and,  together  with 
the  flowery  meadows  in  the  valleys,  present  a  very  plea.sing  scenery  to  the  eye. 

The  mountains  between  Taos,  Picuris,  and  Embuda  contain  gold  mines,"  which 
have  been  worked  in  former  years.  The  mountains  and  gulches  near  Mora  contain 
float  quartz  and  gold,  but  are  not  much  prospected.  Some  gold  has  been  brought 
to  Santa  F6  during  the  past  year  from  San  Juan,  but  no  particulars  could  be  learned 
about  it.    Excellent  fire-clay  exists  near  Santa  Fe. 

Near  Santa  F6  two  veins  of  anthracite  coal  are  opened  five  feet  in  width.  It  con- 
tains 87.5  per  cent,  of  fixed  carbon,  and  when  burning  shows  only  the  blue  flame  of 
carbonic  oxide.  As  far  as  its  practical  application  foi-  all  practical  purposes  is  con- 
cerned it  is  undoubtedly  fully  equal  to  Pennsylvania  anthracite,  and  really  the  best 
fuel  so  far  discovered  iii  the  "West. 

Two  miles  north  of  Santa  F6  a  layer  of  coal  mixed  with  iron  pyrites  occurs. 

Coal  crops  out  near  Taos. 

A  large  lode  of  specular  iron  has  been  found  of  late  near  Embada,  between  Taos 
and  Santa  F6, 

No  attempt  has  been  made  to  smelt  iron,  although  it  exists  in  great  abundance 
and  of  great  purity  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  anthracite  coal  and  contiguous  to 
fire-clays  and  limestone. 

Sooner  or  later  it  will  be  known  that  New  Mexico  need  not  shrink  from  a  com- 
parison with  her  sister  Teiritories,  none  of  them  surpassing  her  in  natural  resources 
and  riches,  and  many  of  them  stand  below  her  in  the  scale. 

The  following  minerals  are  known  to  exist:  Grold,  silver,  lead  ores,  copper,  manga- 
nese, iron  ores,  carbonate,  hematite,  specular  iron,  magnetite,  coal,  anthracite,  bitu- 
minous, salt  in  springs  and  lakes,  precious  stones,  garnets,  turquoise,  opal,  quick- 
silver, soda,  gypsum,  lime,  cement,  sulphur,  sulphuret  of  iron,  chromic  iron,  &c. 

Dr.  McKee  in  speaking  of  our  mines,  after  reciting  the  vast  amounts 


28 

of  gold  and  silver  produced  by  the  mines  of  Nevada  and  Calif orijia^; 
says : 

New  Mexico  will  yield  equally  as  mucli,  or  even  more,  for  the  metals  are  known 
to  exist  within  her  in  the  greatest  abundance,  and  capital  only  is  required  to  develop 
the  hidden  treasures. 

The  Commissioner  of  the  General  Land  Office  in  his  report  for  1868^ 
page  54,  says : 

Valuable  minerals  are  found  in  every  portion  of  ^ew  Mexico.  In  numerous 
localities  may  now  be  seen  shafts  and  drifts,  the  work  of  former  generations,  and 
the  only  monuments  left  of  their  energy,  activity,  and  industi-y,  while  the  almost 
daily  discovery  of  new  lodes  of  gold  and  silver  bearing  quartz  and  auriferous  placers 
indicate  that  mining  operations  in  the  future  will  be  as  productive  as  in  the  past, 
(as  in  the  days  of  Montezuma  and  Cortez.) 

Dr.  F.  V.  Hayden,  United  States  geologist,  in  a  partial  examination 
of  the  mines  of  New  Mexico,  reports  the  following  minerals  of  com- 
mercial value : 

Iron  pyrites,  copper  pyrites. — Mostly  auriferous,  widely  distributed  in  veins  over 
the  flanks  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  l^ew  Mexico,  and  m  numerous  lesser  chain* 
of  granitic  and  metamorphic  rocks. 

Malachite,  green  vitriol,  blue  vitriol. — Principally  from  decompositions  of  the  above 
wherever  the  ores  have  been  exposed  to  weathering.  Widely  distributed  in  veins 
over  the  flanks  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  New  Mexico,  and  in  numerous  lesser- 
chains  of  granitic  and  metamorphic  rocks. 

Zincblende,  (often  argentiferous.) — Sandia,  &c. 

Oalena,  (often  argentiferous.) — Maxwell's,  near  Mora. 

Brittle  silver. — Maxwell's,  near  Mora. 

Fahlerz. — Maxwell's,  near  Mora. 

Specular  iron  ore. — Real  Dolores,  near  Ortiz  mine. 

Red  and  hroivn  hematite. — "Widely  distributed ;  Old  Placer,  &c. 

Magnetic  pyrites. — New  Placer. 

Coal. — Raton  Mountains,  Maxwell's,  Real  Dolores,  &.c 

Cerussite. — Maxwell's. 

Anglesite. — Maxwell's. 

Native  gold. — Arroyo  Hondo,  Moreno,  Brahm  lode,  New  Placer,  &c. 

Native  silver. — Maxwell's. 

Horn  silver. — Maxwell's. 

Titanic  iron  ore. — Real  Dolores. 

Smithsonite. — Sandia. 

Silver  glance. — Moreno,  New  and  Old  Placers. 

Light  and  dark  rttby  silver. — Maxwell's. 

Spathic  and  micacious  iron  ores. — Real  Dolores. 

Turquoise. — Cerrillos,  between  Santa  Fe  and  San  Lazaro  Mountains. 

Professor  Hayden  says  in  his  report,  page  130 : 

The  valuable  ores  abound  almost  everywhere  in  the  granite  and  gneiss  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and  the  economic  question  is  not  to  find  the  material,  but  the 
capital  and  labor  with  which  to  work.  The  country  over  which  these  investigations 
were  made  is  replete  with  those  minerals  which  by  their  decomposition  are  found 
by  experience  to  most  enrich  the  soil,  as  it  is  with  the  before-mentioned  minerals  of 
commercial  value. 

ANTHRACITE  COAL  AND  IRON. 

Professors  Owen  and  Cox,  eminent  geologists  from  the  State  of 
Indiana,  in  their  report  on  the  minerals  of  New  Mexico,  say: 

Near  the  Placer  Mountain  we  examined  a  bed,  almost  five  feet  thick,  of  the  best 
anthracite,  altered  by  porphyritic  contact. 

Anthracite  coal,  (from  Placer  Mountain.) — ^Luster  bright,  submetallic  fracture, 
conchoidal.    Resembles  in  outward  appearance  the  anthracite  fi-om  Pennsylvania : 

Coke 92.00 

Volatile  matter 8.  00 

100.  00 

Fixed  carbon 87.  00 

Ashes,  (red)    , 5.00 

Volatile  combustible  matter 4. 50 

Moisture  dried  at  300*'  Fah : 3. 50 

100.00- 


29 

Having  soen  a  hand  specimen  which  we  recognized  as  excellent  anthracite,  we 
were  especially-  desirous  to  visit  this  locality  fi-om  which  it  was  obtained,  and  we 
did  80  before  leaving.  The  entrance  to  it  is  a  raxine,  with  slaty  rock  for  a  few  feet 
over  the  roof.  *  *  *  The  coal-bed  is  very  accessible  and  easily  worked  ;  it  meas- 
ures fiom  four  feet  eight  inches  to  four  feet  ten  inches  in  thickness,  and  is  gener- 
ally very  fiee  fiom  earthy  or  other  impurities.  It  seems  a  true  anthracite,  not 
semi-bituminous,  but  as  destitute  of  bitumen  as  the  Pennsylvania  variety. 

Comparisons  of  coal. 
1.  Pennsylvania  anthracite. 

Fixed  carbon 87. 45 

Ashes  and  clinkers 7.  37 

Volatile  matter 3.84 

Moisture 1.  34 

100.00 
(Analysis  by  Professor  W.  R.  Johnson,  taken  from  Dana's  Mineralogy.) 

2.  Anthracite  coal  from  Placer  Mountain. 

Fixed  carbon : 87.00 

Ashes,  (red) 5.00 

Volatile  matter 4. 50 

Moisture  dried  at  300°  F 3.  50 

100. 00 

(Analysis  by  Professor  Cox. — Owen  and  Cox's  Eeport  on  Mines  of  17ew  Mexico, 
page  58.") 

Says  Professor  Cox : 

It'will  be  seen  from  the  analysis  that  the  fixed  carbon  in  the  two  is  nearly  the 
same ;  the  Placer  Mountain  coal  contains  a  little  more  volatile  combustible  matter 
and  moisture,  while  the  Pennsylvania  coal  has  the  largest  quantity  of  ash. — Owen 
and  Cox's  Report,  page  59. 

Dr.  McKee  also  in  his  book,  page  95,  in  reference  to  anthracite  coal 
and  iron  in  New  Mexico,  says : 

Good  iron  ore  is  also  obtained  at  Placer  Mountain,  near  the  center  of  the  Terri- 
tory. Here  it  is  not  so  abundant  as  at  the  Munbres ;  but  inasmuch  as  it  is  only  six 
miles  distant  from  an  anthracite  coal-bed,  it  is  more  valuable  on  that  account. 
This  anthracite  bed  is  in  a  ravine,  very  accessible  and  very  easily  worked,  only 
twenty*-three  mUes  south  of  Santa  F6.  The  coal  is  of  an  excellent  quality,  as  good 
as  the'best  Pennsvlvania,  and  is  entirely  free  from  bitumen.  The  vein  is  from  four 
to  five  feet  wide,  clean  and  free  from  all  "impurities. — Professor  McKee' s  Nevj  Mexico, 
d;c.,  page  5. 

Commissioner  Eaymond  in  his  report  of  1870,  pages  414-417,  in 
speaking  of  mines  of  New  Mexico,  and  especially  anthracite  coal, 
says : 

The  occurrence  of  anthracite  coal  in  workable  beds  in  the  "Western  Territories 
near  the  gold  and  silver  districts,  is  of  such  great  importance  that  I  cannot  con- 
clude this  report  on  New  Mexico  without  giving  a  detailed  description  of  the  an  - 
thracite  mines  at  the  Old  Placer  Mountain.  They  are  situated  near  the  north- 
western foot-hills  of  that  range,  about  twenty-three  miles  southwest  of  Santa  Fe, 
and  respectively  four  and  one-half  and  six  miles  from  the  mining  town  of  Eeal  de 
Dolores.  *  ****** 

The  coal  from  the  coal  mines  to  be  described  in  the  following  presents  all  these 
qualities,  and  there  is  consequently  no  doubt  that  it  is  really  anthracite. 

After  referring  to  the  locality  of  the  mines  and  to  what  extent  they 
had  been  worked,  he  says : 

About  280  tons  of  coal  have  been  taken  from  this  mine.  It  shows  all  the  qualities 
of  a  true  anthracite  and  contains  87.5  per  cent,  of  fixed  carbon.  *  *  *  As  the 
material  does  not  coke  in  the  least,  it  is  evident  from  this  test  that  it  is  perfectly 
adapted  to  use  in  blast  furnaces,  though  it  will  require  a  higher  i^ressure  of  blast, 
on  account  of  its  density,  than  charcoal  or  coke. 

In  every  county  in  the  southern  portion  of  New  Mexico  silver,  cop- 
per, and  lead  mines  have  been  discovered,  and  some  of  them  are  now 
beingworked.  The  productsof  the  Silver  City  mines  in  GrantCounty, 
worked  without  improved  machinery,  are  about  $10,000  in  silver  per 


30 

week.  The  ore  from  the  copper  mines  in  this  county  is  transported' 
six  hundred  miles  in  wagons,  and  shipped  to  Baltimore  for  smelting.. 
On  the  completion  of  the  Texas  and  Pacitic  Railway  through 
Southern  New  Mexico,  it  is  estimated  that  the  yield  from  copper 
mines  will  be  greater  than  from  any  portion  of  the  United  States. 
Some  of  the  copper  mines  worked  by  the  Spaniards  more  than  one- 
hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  and  the  ores  taken  to  the  city  of  Mex- 
ico, are  now  being  worked.  In  all  portions  of  the  Territory  old  mines 
and  shafts  may  be  found,  but  more  particularly  in  Grant,  Dona  Afia, 
Santa  F6,  Santa  Ana,  and  Socorro  Counties. 

Dr.  Wizlezeines,  a  scientific  German  miner,  who  examined  New  Mex- 
.  ico  before  the  annexation  of  the  United  States,  says : 

A  third  much-neglected  branch  of  industry  in  New  Mexico  are  the  mines.  Great 
many  now  deserted  mining  places  in  New  Mexico  prove  that  mining  was  pursued 
with  greater  zeal  in  the  old  Spanish  times  than  at  present. 

Again : 

The  mountainous  portions  of  New  Mexico  are  very  rich  in  gold,  copper,  iron,  and 
silver.  Iron,  though  so  abundantly  found,  is  overlooked.  Coal  has  also  been  dis- 
covered in  different  localities. 

Avery  recent  report  made  by  Professor  C.  D.Wilbur,  of  Chicago,. 
Illinois,  known  to  be  one  of  the  ablest  scientific  minds  in  the  coun- 
try, with  a  practical  experience,  extending  over  twenty  years,  in  in- 
specting and  studying  the  coal-fields  and  iron  deposits  of  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Missouri,  and  Iowa,  and  reporting  thereon,  and  personally 
known  to  many  gentlemen  on  this  floor,  in  speaking  of  the  Trinidad 
coals  in  Southern  Colorado,  says : 

"We  trace  the  same  svstem  to  the  west  and  southward  to  Cimarron,  New  Mexico : 
thence  to  Santa  Fe  and  beyond,  where  this  system  of  coal  deposits  has  been  changed, 
to  anthracite  by  the  same  forces  or  causes  as  have  produced  the  anthracite  coal- 
fields of  Pennsylvania.  « 

The  distance  between  the  points  here  spoken  of  is  more  than  two 
hundred  miles,  and  adjacent  to  these  coal-fields  iron  ore  in  great 
quantities  has  been  discovered. 

In  the  same  report  Professor  Wilbur  further  says : 

The  coals  of  this  region,  which  may  be  referred  to  as  the  Trinidad  coals,  because' 
by  that  name  they  are  readily  known,  are  much  superior  to  the  Colorado  coals  found 
in  the  vicinity  of  Canon  City' and  Denver.  They  are  by  far  the  best  that  have  been 
discovered  in  the  Rocky  Mountains.  They  are  equal  to  the  best  bituminous  coals 
of  Illinois,  Ohio,  or  Pennsylvania. 

He  further  says: 

In  proof  of  this  statement  I  will  quote  from  the  report  of  Mr.  Eilers  before  the- 
American  Institiite  of  Mining  Engineers  atEaston,  Pennsylvania,  October  22,  1873, 
on  coke  made  from  Trinidad  coal : 

"  This  is  the  first  good  coke  for  smelting  purposes  ever  made  from  lignite  alone  in 
America.  It  has  so  far  always  been  found  necestery  to  mix  bituminous  coal,  from 
the  coal  measures,  tar,  or  similar  material,  with  lig-nite,  in  order  to  produce  a  coke, 
which  even  then  was  in  most  cases  only  an  indifferent  fuel  for  the  shaft-furnace. 

"  The  coke  here  presented  will  answer  for  all  purposes  of  lead  and  copper  smelting 
in  shaft- furnaces,  and  if  made  in  proper  coke-ovens  it  will  probably  be'sufficiently 
dense  to  carry  the  high  smelting  columns  of  the  iron  blast-furnace.  One  pound  of 
Trinidad  coal  furnishes  4.25  cubic  feet  of  purified  gas  without  the  use  of  an  ex- 
iauster,  and  55  per  cent,  of  the  coal  remains  as  coke. 

The  importance  of  this  bed  of  coal  for  the  metallurgical  purposes  of  the  far 
"West  cannot  be  overrated  when  we  know  that  at  present  eastern  coke  costs  at  Den- 
ver twenty-two  dollars,  and  at  Salt  Lake  City  thirty  dollars  per  ton.  The  recent 
analysis  of  Dr.  J.  A.  Sewell,  State  chemist  of  Illinois,  made  late  in  December,  1873, 
still  better  confirms  our  statement  as  to  the  extra  value  of  these  coals.  The  analy- 
ses were  made  from  the  New  Mexico  and  Trinidad  coals  with  the  same  results. 


31 

Laboratory  Uxiver6ITY  of  Illixois,  December  16, 1873. 
Results  of  analysis  of  coals  sent  me  by  Prof essor  C.  D.  Wilbur  from  !N'ew  Mexico, 
December  4,  1873: 
Specific  gravity 1. 2215 

Water S.fcJO 

Ash 4.17 

Total  incombustible  matter 9.  97 

Volatile  matter 36.  81 

Fixed  carbon 53.  22^ 

Total  combustible  matter 90.  03 

Coke  firm  and  very  persistent ;  ash  light,  resembling  the  ash  of  wood.  It  con- 
tains a  trace  of  silver.  The  coal  bears  only  a  slight  trace  of  sulphur.  It  yields 
splendid  illuminating  gas.  For  locomotive  use  these  coals  must  rank  among  the 
very  best.    The  coke  is  the  most  firm  and  persistent  of  any  I  have  ever  seen. 

J.  H.  SEWELL,  M.  !>., 
Analytical  Chemist,  Illinois  State  University, 
Professor  Wilbur  adds : 

It  would  seem  that  nothing  more  could  be  said  setting  forth  the  quality  of  Xew 
Mexico  and  Trinidad  coals. 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  tbese  great  coal-fields  are  distant 
from  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  about  seven  hundred  miles,  and  from  the 
coals  of  the  State  of  Kansas  at  Emporia  about  five  hundred  and 
seventy-five  miles,  there  being  no  coal  between  Emporia  and  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  Now,  owing  to  the  superiority  of  the  New  Mexico 
coals,  the  facility  with  which  they  can  be  mined,  the  New  Mexico  coal 
can  be  transported  to  Atchison,  on  the  Missouri  Eiver,  and  sold  in 
competition  with  the  Kansas  and  Missouri  coals.  On  this  point  Pro- 
fessor Wilbur  says : 

We  are  aware  that  the  Kansas  coals  are  reached  between  Emporia  and  Topeka,. 
and  that  there  will  be  co*petition  at  Emporia,  (Missouri,  Kansas,  and  Texas  Rail- 
way crossing.)  but  the  extraordinary  quality  of  the  Xew  Mexico  coals  will  as  cer- 
tainly bear  these  rates  as  the  best  Blossburgh,  Hocking  Valley,  and  Pittsburgh  coals 
now  bear  the  same  rates  in  Chicago. 

The  Kansas  and  Missouri  coals  are  far  inferior  in  quality  and  must  fail  in  any 
comparison  with  these  already  described.  Besides,  the  Kansas  coals  are  very 
scarce,  occurring  in  thin  veins  and  patches,  and  are  mined  at  great  expense  per  ton. 
It  is  difficult  to  determine  the  number  of  tons  per  day  that  would  be  required  to  be 
distributed  between  Cimarron,  Xew  Mexico,  and  Atchison,  Kansas,  within  three 
years  from  the  completion  of  the  road.  It  must  be  understood  that  the  entire  sup- 
ply of  coal  for  the  great  Arkansas  Valley,  to  the  extent  of  fifty  miles  on  each  side  of 
the  railroad  or  river,  must  come  from  New  Mexico.  Add  to  this  the  supply  of  tlie 
plains  from  Granada  to  Cimarron,  two  hundred  and  three  miles,  not  only  for  the 
towns  and  stations  but  for  every  farm  and  ranch,  and  for  every  miU  and  manu- 
factory, and  also  for  smelting  works,  to  say  nothing  of  coals  for  locomotive  uses, 
and  it  is  certain  that  the  coal  transportation  must  be  immense. 

We  do  not  overestimate  it  when  we  put  the  daily  demand  at  three  thousand  tons, 
or  three  hundred  carloads,  or  ten  trains  of  thirty  cars  each. 

As  soon  as  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  F6  Railroad  is  completed  to  Cimarron,, 
every  station  from  that  point  becomes  a  coal  depot  for  the  surrounding  country, 
and  18  furnished  with  a  reliable  first-class  coal  mine  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  so 
that  every  farmer  and  ranchman  can  certainly  depend  on  his  supply  of  the  best 
coal  at  very  cheap  rates. 

The  country  described  here  extends  from  the  Missouri  River  to  the 
Arkansas  River,  and  up  that  stream  to  the  base  of  the  Rocky  Mount- 
ains, the  commencement  of  these  coal-fields,  and  embraces  an  area 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  million  acres  of  farming  and  grazing  lands, 
fuel  for  three-fourths  of  which  must  be  supplied  from  the  New  Mexico 
coals.  On  this  point,  in  the  report  referred  to,  Professor  Wilbur  fur- 
ther says: 

The  coal  region  so  briefly  described-in  this  report  is  a  portion  of  the  largest  coal- 
field in  the  world.    It  reaches  from  the  British  possessions  far  into  Mexico,  over 


32 

fifteen  hundred  miles  in  length,  and  is  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  four  hundred 
miles  in  width,  all  embraced  in  the  tertiary  and  cretaceous  formations  of  the  West- 
ern Territories.    The  relation  of  this  magnificent  coal-field  both  to  the  Eocky  Mount- 


The  plains  have  no  fuel,  and  the  Rocky  Mountains  are  plethoric  with  valuable 
ores.  Their  bases  are  iron,  their  sides  gold,  and  their  summits  silver.  Coal  is  so 
placed  in  the  foot-hills  and  lower  ranges  as  to  be  most  accessible  both  to  the  farmer 
or  herdsmen  and  the  miner,  whose  united  industries  will  soon  develop  the  region 
so  long  known  as  the  American  desert. 

He  concludes  by  saying : 

Ten  years  ago  the  mineral  wealth  of  New  Mexico  was  hardly  supposed  to  exist. 
It  is  now  known  to  be  immense,  far  surpassing  the  wealth  of"  "Ormus  or  of  Ind.* 
The  entire  Territory  needs  to  be  minutely  studied  and  examine<l,  not  by  mere 
amateur  fossil-pickers  and  specimen  hunters,  or  by  the  innocent  bands  annually 
sent  out  by  eastern  colleges,  who  are  predestined  to  find  a  "new  species,"  write  a 
monogTam,  and  have  one  day  of  glitter  as  heroes  in  some  metropolitan  newspaper, 
but  by  practical  mineralogists  and  geologists  whose  character  and  success  will 
command  the  attention  and  confidence  of  capitalists  of  America  and  Europe. 

Such  is  the  testimony  of  impartial  and  disinterested  witnesses  as 
to  our  mineral  wealth.  I  have  no  disposition  to  add  one  word ;  they 
speak  for  New  Mexico  much  better  than  I  can,  except  to  say  that  the 
explorations  west  of  the  one  hundredth  meridian,  now  being  conducted 
under  the  supervision  of  General  Humphreys,  Chief  of  Engineers, 
known  as  the  "Wheeler  expedition,"  because  they  are  immediately 
under  the  charge  of  Lieutenant  Wheeler,  one  of  the  ablest  engineers  in 
our  service,  promises  not  only  a  confirmation  of  the  above  statements, 
but  beneficial  results  in  bringing  before  the  whole  country  exact 
and  accurate  information  of  the  geology  and  mineralogy  of  a  portion 
of  our  continent  now  almost  unknown. 

From  these  facts  it  is  safe  to  conclude  that  New  Mexico  must  some 
day  become,  as  indeed  the  whole  Rocky  Mountain  region,  not  only  a 
stock-growing  and  mining  country,  but  also  manufacturing  to  a  great 
extent.  It  is  often  asked  if  New  Mexico  has  such  elements  of  great 
wealth,  why  is  it  in  twenty-five  years  she  lias  nbt  made  greater  prog- 
ress ?  The  answer  to  this  is,  that  under  the  treaty  the  United  States 
promised  to  protect  the  people  from  Indian  depredations,  but  instead 
of  doing  so  during  all  this  time  New  Mexico  has  been  constantly  sub- 
jected to  Indian  wars,  which  have  prevented  all  progress.  Now  that 
Indian  hostilities  have  ceased,  New  Mexico  is  making  wonderful  prog- 
ress. 

Most  all  other  Territories  and  States  have  had  assistance  in  some 
form  or  other  in  building  railways ;  New  Mexico  has  had  none. 
Heretofore  too  little  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  wants  of  the  great 
Rocky  Mountain  regions.  They  embrace  an  emjure  in  themselves,  and 
will  in  the  future  rival  even  the  Atlantic  and  Mississippi  Valley  States 
in  contributing  to  the  wealth  of  the  entire  country,  and  adding  to 
the  greatness  and  glory  of  the  Republic. 

The  various  chains  of  mountains  in  the  United  States,  with  their 
minerals,  maintain  peculiar  relations  to  the  whole  country  and  its 
commerce. 

The  mountains  of  old  New  England!  We  love  her  people  as  chil- 
dren only  love  a  father ;  we  hold  them  in  the  same  grateful  rever- 
ence that  youth  has  for  old  age.  They  have  given  the  country  an  in- 
telligent. God-fearing,  and  liberty-loving  people,  and  the  Republic  a 
whole  race  of  distinguished  statesmen.  In  addition  to  this  they 
have  their  place  in  our  internal  commerce:  they  furnish,  and  will  con- 
tinue to  do  so,  that  which  we  cannot  spare,  the  granite  and  marble 
that  lift  to  the  skies  our  lofty  public  edifices  and  give  strength  to 
our  less  imposing  but  palatial  residences. 

Farther  to  the  West  and  South  the  Alleghany  Mountains  and. their 


33 

grand  system  and  far-reaching  ramifications  have  done  and  will  con- 
tinue to  do  their  great  office  in  supx>lyingthe  coal  and  iron  and  build- 
ing up  manufactories  between  the  East  and  the  Mississippi  Valley,  but 
their  capacity  and  transportation  unite  in  saying  beyond  this  you 
cannot  go,  here  you  must  stop  ;  your  boundaries  are  fixed,  and  your 
territory  determined.  From  the  Mississippi  Valley  to  the  Pacific  coast, 
a  distance  of  near  two  thousand  miles,  nature  has  not  been  unmindful 
of  the  wants  of  those  who  are  scattered  over  this  vast  area,  nor  of  the 
wants  of  the  unborn  millions  that  must  come  after  them;  but  with 
her  unsparing  and  generous  hand  she  has  stored  jiway  in  her  great 
storehouse,  the  Rocky  Mountains,  not  only  the  coal,  iron,  lead,  and 
copper  that  will  furnish  the  basis  of  a  thousand  industries  and  be  re- 
quired for  thousands  of  years  to  come,  but  the  gold  and  silver  that 
must  not  only  ultimately  redeem  our  present  national  debt,  but  sup- 
ply our  wants  in  the  great  future. 

The  Rocky  Mountains  not  only  maintain  a  peculiar  relation  to  the 
great  plains  "that  lie  between  her  base  on  the  Missouri  River,  so  ably 
set  forth  by  Professor  Wilbur,  but  with  the  whole  country.  The 
Mississippi  Valley  and  the  Pacific  coast  are  no  longer  divided  by  an 
inseparable  bai'rier ;  they  have  shaken  hands  across  the  back-bone 
of  the  continent,  and  become  wedded  in  a  common  interest,  the  cere- 
mony having  been  performed  in  the  presence  of  the  majestic  and 
snow-clad  peaks  of  the  Sierra  Nevadas  who  stood  as  the  grand  and 
silent  witnesses  to  this  happy  union,  which  has  been  recently  more 
closely  strengthened  by  bands  of  iron.  * 

The  Rocky  Mountains  rest  on  vast  coal-beds.  Here,  in  the  not  very  far 
future,  we  must  go  for  coal,  the  great  desideratum  of  our  civilization,  the 
basis  of  almost  all  'power  and  nearly  of  all  wealth,  without  which  the 
world  would  suddenly  stop,  but  with  which  it  will  move  on  to  new 
and  astonishing  conquests  in  science,  art,  mechanics,  and  manufac- 
tures. 

By  an  unnatural  usurpation  cotton  was  once  called  and  believed  by 
some  to  be  king ;  but  time  and  the  natural  laws  of  commerce  have 
served  to  dispel  this  delusion,  and  coal,  with  his  ebon  brow,  has  come 
to  the  front  and  by  unanimous  consent  been  crowned  king  forever ; 
and  from  his  dark  throne,  with  his  brother  iron,  wields  the  scepter  of 
empire  over  all  human  industries,  his  realms  being  measured  only  by 
man's  ingenuity.  ^ 

In  the  United  States,  the  home  and  throne  of  this  king  is  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains ;  his  children  live  and  rule  in  the  Alleghanies  and 
the  Mississippi  Valley.  The  Rocky  Mountains  will  play  no  ordinary 
or  secondary  part  in  the  future  of  this  country.  So  long  unknown, 
light  is  beginning  to  dawn ;  we  are  but  catching  glimpses  of  the  fu- 
ture grandeur  and  glory  of  this  great  empire. 

In  Nftw  Mexico  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  a  thousand  fur- 
naces for  the  reduction  of  ores  will  light  up  the  sides  of  her  vast 
mountains,  and  this  ore,  drawn  by  a  thousand  engines  busy  by  day 
and  by  night,  will  be  poured  into  the  lap  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  ; 
and  millions  of  sheep,  cattle,  and  horses  will  feed  on  her  boundless 
plateaus. 

3e 


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